Glad You Came
by wintersayshi
Summary: Danny had one rule for Steve when his younger sister Emma came to visit with her son and that was to behave himself around her. But Steve was never one to stick to the rules when a woman is involved especially when Danny convinces Emma to stay on a more permanent basis and soon enough Emma and Steve find themselves becoming simply more than just attracted to each other.
1. Chapter 1

It was another beautiful sunny day in Hawaii or rather yet another sunny day in the pineapple infested hellhole that Steve McGarrett's partner, a Det. Danny Williams would say if Steve brought up how nice the day was. Steve knew better than that by now, knowing full well that Danny wasn't the fondest person of Hawaii for some bizarre reason. To Steve, Hawaii was as close as you got to heaven on earth but Danny it was more closer to hell. Several months Danny had been living here on the island and had made no attempts to try and fit in, making it beyond clear to everyone that he had encountered that he was from the mainland. Especially with his shirt and tie combo that Danny refused to depart with. Steve had long since given up trying to convince his partner to give up the tie as he knew it would just lead to Danny getting himself worked out. As much as Steve liked pushing his partner's buttons on occasion, they were times where he knew not to go there. Steve glanced at Danny briefly before returning to his previous task of scanning the arrivals section of Honolulu's international airport. This was the last place that Steve wanted to be today of all days considering the weather and the fact that he wasn't the biggest fan of the airports. But he was here doing a favor for his partner, Danny's youngest sister Emma along with her son were arriving in Hawaii today to visit for two weeks and Danny's car was too small to take them as well. So Steve was helping out and offered his truck.

"Thanks for doing this, you didn't have to come." Danny said with a frown on his face as he continued looking around and Steve couldn't help but laugh, Danny should have been happy that his sister was coming but the look on his face seemed like he wasn't too thrilled. Almost like he didn't want this trip to happen.

"No problem Danno, after meeting you I'm curious about your sister. You haven't said much about her… Anything I need to know?" Steve replied, as he had never heard Danny mention that he had a sister, let alone any other siblings until Danny had announced just under a month ago that his little sister Emma was coming to visit him. Even after that Danny didn't offer up much which had made Steve all the more curious. Danny's continued silence over his sister, made Steve want to know more as there must be something about her, which made Danny keep very quiet about her.

"There's no much to say really, Emma is a Williams and like me she is from the great state of New Jersey although she lives in New York these days. She's my youngest sister and the one with the biggest appetite, Emma is a lawyer but I wouldn't hold that against her as she's a pretty good one at that. My sister is a good kid, she's had it hard the last couple of years but it's not what you think. Emma had never been in trouble a day in her life." Danny commented and Steve glanced at Danny waiting for him to expanded but he didn't instead he moved on. It seemed to be a reoccurring thing when it came to Danny talking about his sister. "Well they'll be here for two weeks but don't worry about anything as Emma's the kind of person who can adjust to new surroundings very quickly given the amount of times she moved in the last twelve years. One thing about Emma is that she had this inability to sit still for long…"

. "Wait – whose they?" Steve asked feigning ignorance to the fact that Emma and her young son were coming, knowing full well that it would wind Danny up. That was what Steve was aiming for as Danny looked like he really needed to lighten up just a bit as he was acting like his sister coming to visit was the end of the world. It seemed to work as Danny sighed and Steve could tell Danny was about to go into his lecture mode with him. Danny's lecture mode involved in the New Jersey native talking to Steve very slow and carefully like he was a small child much to Steve's amusement.

"My sister and my nephew. I told you she was coming with her son. Do you not listen to anything I tell you?" Danny demanded and Steve couldn't help but grin, sometimes it was too easy to be messing with Danny's head.

"No, can't say I do."

"Typical, if I were talking about the how to best get a confession out of a perp I'd have your full attention especially if I suggested dangling him in a shark cage. But anything that has nothing to with any form of violence, then you switch off." Danny lectured.

"Are you sure their flight has landed or did you get the dates and times mixed up?"

"I'm not a moron! I know what you're trying to do and it's not funny! Now for once will you try and be on your best behaviour? No crazy stunts or antics in front of my sister or my nephew, especially Emma because I know how you seem to attract trouble wherever you go. I just want some nice, quiet and peaceful time with my family because if anything does wrong I know it'll get straight back to my mother." Danny stated.

"Okay Danny, I will try and limit the craziness now just relax." Steve quipped expecting Danny to comeback with some kind of retort but he didn't, Danny was back to looking through the crowds until this big grin appeared on his face. Steve wasn't really sure what Danny was looking at as there were so many people around but whatever he couldn't see Danny did. Before Steve could ask what the hell Danny was so happy about, a small boy with dark blonde hair and brown eyes came running towards Danny whilst holding somebody's hand who Steve couldn't see but he presumed this to be Danny's sister. Steve said the boy was holding someone's hand but rather he was pulling the person along with him.

"Uncle Danno!"

"The great and powerful Oz!" Danny called out and Steve watched as the little boy let go of the hand he was holding on to and ran straight into Danny's arms who picked him straight up. Steve couldn't help but notice the wide and genuine smile on Danny's face which Steve had only ever seen on his partner when Danny was with his own daughter Grace. "Look at you buddy you've gotten so big since I last saw you. Now Oz… Where's your mother?"

"There's momma!"

"Oh yeah, good job Oz!" Danny said with a grin as his nephew pointed straight ahead of them and Steve saw a woman wearing a white t-shirt and rolled up cream trousers standing in front of them, sunglasses covered most of her face except for the amused smirk that she wore on her face. Steve made an educated guess and took this woman to be Danny's sister Emma.

"Will you please stop calling my son that Daniel? He does have a name, one that I took the time to pick out and which I have been calling him everyday on his life." Emma said sliding her sunglasses on to the top of her head as she walked over and joined them and as she did Steve couldn't help but tilt his head so he could get a better look at Danny's sister. Emma kind of looked like Danny but then she didn't as she was a woman and marginally more attractive than him not to mention taller. Actually she was quite beautiful Steve noted the more he looked at Emma. With her blonde hair and heart shape faced and gentle brown eyes, Emma stood with such ease and confidence. Steve could probably guess why Danny hadn't told himself about Emma beforehand.

"Steven, I'd like you to meet my sister Emma and her son Harry." Danny said finally making introductions.

"Lt. Commander McGarrett I presume? I've heard a lot about you, Danny speaks about you with such _fondness_." Emma said with a smile as she shook hands with Steve and the smile that appeared on Steve's face was one of bemusement. No doubt Danny had been telling his sister all about some of their wilder days on the job, made sense why Damon had told Steve that no funny business was to happen whilst Emma and her son were here. However Emma seemed amused by everything that she seemed to have heard about him, which was surely a good sign which showed that she had a sense of humour. So far Steve had won approval from Grace and getting approval from Emma seemed to be the next as Grace along with Emma were clearly some of the most important women in Danny's life.

"Not all bad I presume?"

"Actually most of it was bad but knowing Danny some of the tales he's told me are bound to have been wildly exaggerated. I've known my brother to stretch the truth on certain manners just to make a point…" Emma said as glanced briefly at Danny who just glared at her. Knowing Danny, Steve expected that but he was glad to see that someone else saw it as well. Emma seemed to be a lot more easy going than her brother and liked poking fun at him whenever she could.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both and please call me Steve, nobody calls me Steven except for _Daniel_."

"So buddy, the last time that I checked you were three years old… how old are you now?" Danny asked swiftly changing the subject of the conversation away from him and his nephew held up five fingers but Steve couldn't help but smile over at Emma who happily returned the smile. "Five? You sure about that Oz?"

"Four… Danno!" Harry eventually replied, after glancing at his small fingers and counting them as best he could, it was a rather sweet sight especially when Danny rewarded Harry with an affectionate ruffling on his head which made the small boy laugh as he wrapped his short arms tighter around his uncle's neck.

"You look different, I don't know what is though." Danny commented as he looked at his sister and Steve didn't say anything to this given that he had only just met the woman but Emma frowned at Danny. Given that Steve had grown up with a younger sister, he knew that the look on Emma's face wasn't a good one. Mary often looked at him that way when they were kids when he had done or rather something stupid, the rare occasion that he had done something wrong instead of her. Steve wasn't an expert in women nor would he ever claim to be but even he knew that you had to tread carefully around them. Especially when they were your younger sister.

"Well it's the first time in months that you haven't seen me in a suit as I wasn't going to wear my work clothes Danny, because firstly we're here on vacation and secondly we're in Hawaii so I think it's okay. But I think your referring to my haircut however like most men you wouldn't immediately notice it until it's been pointed out to you even if you are a detective..." Emma stated and Steve couldn't help but watch in amusement as Harry laughed at his mother admonishing his uncle all whilst Danny just rolled his eyes. Steve grinned and turned to Danny, he'd been expecting Emma to be a female version of Danny but she was different than all of his assumptions, nothing like what Steve had expecting her to be and pleasantly surprising him the more the conversation went on.

"I like her."


	2. Chapter 2

"So Emma, Danny hasn't told me much about you but I hear you're a lawyer, what kind of law do you practice?" Steve questioned as he drove to the hotel that Emma and Harry were going to be staying in for the duration of their vacation. They weren't staying with Danny because of the size of his apartment and Danny had muttered something how it was better if him and Emma weren't living under the same roof. The way that he had worded it made clear to Steve not to ask about the finer details of Danny's vague comment. Steve had offered for Emma and Oz to stay at his house as he had plenty of space in the house but Danny had quickly shot that idea down, telling him that there was no way that his sister and nephew were staying with the Hawaiian version of John McClane

"Criminal law, I'm an assistant district attorney back in New York, I work in the Manhattan office in the trial bureau and as of late spending quite a lot of my time at the supreme court." Emma said and glancing through his rear view manner Steve saw Emma glance down at Harry who had fallen asleep minutes after they had left the airport. "Dad's a firefighter and Danny's a cop so it was only natural that my career path didn't stray too far but what about you Steve? How does a navy seal end up a cop and being partnered with a bitter and cranky detective from New Jersey?"

Steve laughed whilst Danny turned in his heat to glare at Emma. "Hey! I am not cranky and if I was cranky it's only because I'm stuck on this island with him for a partner."

"You know Danny didn't even tell me that he had a sister until last month and even then he didn't tell me much until today except for the fact that you're a lawyer, have a black hole for a stomach and that your eating you're mother out of house and home." Steve commented much to the annoyance to Danny.

"Me a black hole for a stomach? He told you that I had a black hole for a stomach I have a healthy appetite but Danny on the other hand is something else…" Emma retorted in amusement. "Last Christmas Danny had three servings and if I remember correctly he ate so much that he had to undo his belt before dessert and I'll spare everyone gory the details of what happened after…"

"What about you Em? If I recall you had two helpings and let's not forget about Oz, the great and powerful boy wonder eats as much as dad and he's only four." Danny said and Steve laughed at the interaction between the two of them. The two of them were always trading insults with each other, unable to hold a conversation without having a remark about the other thrown in. Most it was light humor as neither of them got particularly offended by what the other had just said. Steve had found the two of them very interesting to watch as Emma and Danny's relationship was a stark difference to him and Mary's.

Emma laughed as she ruffled her son's hair as he slept in her lap. "Will you stop with the wizard of Oz jokes Danny, it's not funny and like I've said his name is Harry."

"So what's with the Oz nickname for Harry? No offense but it doesn't really make much sense, is it one of those Danno things?" Steve questioned as he heard Danny call Harry Oz several times, only to have Emma correct him about her son's name. No doubt there was a reason why Harry was called Oz, like most nicknames, there was usually a story behind it. Question was, how did a four year old boy earn a nickname like Oz?

"What have I told you about calling me that?" Danny hissed, careful not to wake his sleeping nephew. "Only Grace is allowed to call me that."

"So then how comes Harry can and I can't? Because I'm pretty certain that he's been calling you that since him and Emma arrived at not once have you snapped at him like you do when I call you Danno." Steve retorted.

"Are you seriously comparing yourself to my four year old nephew? Who thinks that Santa lives on fifth avenue and takes a cab to every kid's house and then comes up the elevator because there's no chimney where they live." Danny demanded in a sarcastic manner and Emma just rolled her eyes at her brother theatricals. Steve couldn't help but laugh as the Santa Claus on fifth avenue was actually quite funny.

"Calm down _Danno_." Emma replied in a soothing manner. "Take a deep breath, you seem to be so wound up. I would have thought that since you live in Hawaii, you might loosen up a bit but apparently that is not the case. I see we're going to have to work on that."

"Yeah Danno, listen to your sister." Steve added.

"Is this what the next two weeks are going to be like? The two of you ganging up on me at every chance you get because I'm telling you now Em I will call mom and tell her about what happened on the night of your junior prom." Danny threatened and Emma sheepishly looked away but peeking through the rear view mirror Steve could see the huge grin on Emma's face. Clearly she liked pushing her brother's buttons and gave as good as she got.

"Seriously? Threatening your own sister whose an district attorney, you should know better than that Danno." Steve joked.

"It's called leverage Steven, you would know that if you grew up in a house with three siblings. You would have to scratch your way to the top without looking back just to get the remote." Danny said sarcastically. "Or be the first to hug Great Aunt Bertha but that's a whole other story…"

Steve shook his head in humor, he knew Danny was crazy but he had no idea how much he was until now, Emma seemed normal so it couldn't be a New Jersey thing or a Williams thing. It must be a Danny thing. "Okay but seriously what's with the Oz, I'm genuinely interested now."

"My husband's last name was Oswald and so during basic training George was nicknamed Oz by his unit so fast forward a few years when we started dating and I brought him home to meet my family even after Danny run his background. But Danny thought the nickname was funny that when Harry arrived Danny started calling him the Wizard of Oz and much to my chagrin Harry and George loved it, they thought it was funny for some odd reason where as I failed to see it… " Emma said.

"Harry Oswald, the Wizard of Oz… it's a good name." Steve noted.

"Actually it's Harry Oswald Williams." Danny pointed out and you couldn't help but here the overwhelming hint of pride in that.

"Harry took your last name?" Steve asked Emma in surprise, usually kids took their father's last name and Steve hadn't come across many that took their mother's maiden's names and those that did were usually in their adults and not a four year old boy.

Emma nodded. "Yeah George was estranged from his parents since he enlisted in the army as they looked down on it as he was supposed to join the family business and they refused to support him. When I told George I was pregnant he told me that he didn't want his son to be weighed down by his family's name and their disappointment as he was. So Harry took my name when he was born much to his family's upset whereas my family were thrilled…"

"So your married Emma?" Steve began and in the corner of his eye he saw Danny take a sharp intake deep breath and judging by the look on his face, Steve realized that he had done something that he shouldn't have

"Was." Emma corrected quietly and already Steve regretted asking his question as he was pretty sure he could tell where this was leading. Which explained the look on Danny's face. "George and I had been together for a couple of years before Harry was born and we had discussed marriage but we decided that we didn't really need a piece of paper and a fancy ceremony to tell us and everyone in our lives how much we cared about each other. It was only after Harry was born that we actually got married, it wasn't because we felt that we had to because we knew we were a family and we loved each other. But since it wasn't just the two of us anymore George wanted us to have the security and legal rights that being married offered in case something was to ever happen. I guess he was right as the worse happened…"

"George was on his third tour of Afghanistan when he was killed in action three years ago." Danny explained to Steve and in that moment Steve felt like an idiot for forcing Emma and Danny to bring that up. Just to clarify where Harry's nickname came from. "Not long after George died, I started calling Harry Oz as a way to remember George and for something for Oz to have to connect him to his father. Sharing the same nickname was something that George would have loved. It was only right that Oz share it with George as he was a good man."

"Oh you've changed your mind, Steve you should have seen his face when I told him that I was pregnant and I was not getting married. I honestly thought that he was going to kill George. I –"

"You're lucky I didn't." Danny muttered.

"Need I remind you of January 1988 Daniel?" Emma retorted and Steve was actually interested in what happened back in 1988 but Danny changed the subject so quickly that Steve had barely any time to keep up with the two of them. As Emma and Danny continued to playfully bicker over childhood stories and who had the worst habits and most importantly why on earth was Danny wearing a tie in Hawaii. Steve couldn't help but wonder why how could the cranky cop and the laid back attorney could possible be related. The two of them may look like each other, share some of the same mannerisms along with the same parents. But they seemed like chalk and cheese. With Danny being the chalk and Emma being the cheese and so far, Steve liked the cheese.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve was surprised that Danny didn't take any days off when his sister and nephew arrived in Hawaii and apart from a few phone calls in the day they didn't seem to interact that much. After a week Steve finally pressed Danny as to why this was, his little sister had flown all the way to Hawaii to visit him and he had barely even seen her. Danny had at first replied that the two of them would kill each other if they spent every second of the day together as they always seemed to rub each other up the wrong way, until he eventually admitted that his sister and nephew had been spending the last few days at the beach – it was a well known fact that Danny hated the beach. Steve had let it go, although he was rather disappointed as he had liked Emma and had wanted to get to know her a bit better. She was beautiful, kind and funny not to mention she seemed to enjoy winding up Danny as much as he did. So Steve couldn't believe his luck when Emma and Harry walked into the Five-0 office. Putting down his files, Steve exited his office to go and greet Emma and Harry

"Hey Emma, Oz… what are you two doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you both but Danny didn't mention that you were dropping by." Steve began.

"Hey Steve, sorry to drop in unannounced Harry's been wanting to see Uncle Danny all day so I told him that if he took his nap and ate all of his lunch then we would go and see his uncle." Emma explained before turning to Harry. "Sweetpea, where are your manners? You remember Steve, he's a friend of Uncle Danny's and picked us up from the airport."

The four year old waved his free hand at Steve before tugging at the hand that was holding his mother's hand. "Danno, momma. Where's Danno?"

"I'm sorry about him, it's just he didn't care about coming to Hawaii in the slightest he was more concerned with seeing Danny. Since we live in New York and Danny's here, we don't get to see each other quite often and Harry just loves his Danno." Emma explained as her and Steve watched Harry's eyes dart around the room looking for Danny.

"It's no problem at all, you are here to visit him of course and it's not your fault that he's not here at the moment but your more than welcome to wait." Steve said motioning for them to go into his office and when they did Steve sat down behind his desk whilst Emma sat in the char opposite him with Harry on her lap who was playing a game on her phone. "I'm actually glad to see you Emma as I wanted to apologize about the day at the airport I didn't mean to upset you by bringing up your husband…"

"Steve you really don't have apologize, we had only just met each other and you couldn't have possible known that my husband was dead. Danny had barely mentioned that I existed so I don't blame you for anything. Besides it's been two years since George passed away and I can't be sad forever Steve, I've got a child to raise and it's not exactly easy to be sad with an active four year old…" Emma said with a small laugh and Steve had to admit that he was very relieved that he hadn't offended or upset Emma by bringing up George. "Being a single parent wasn't exactly a choice but Harry and I are getting on with our lives as best we can."

"It must be hard." Steve noted, thinking about how his dad had raised him and Mary for a while after their mother had died.

"It is. I prosecute criminals for a living and you'd think that was a hard job given the things that we've seen in what we do. But being a parent, to me is the hardest job in the world even harder than prosecuting criminals… I'm constantly terrified that I'm going to mess up somehow and my worst fear is that Harry will end up like one of the criminals I prosecute. It's hard being a parent but to be both mom and dad is another thing entirely. I'm trying my best but sometimes I don't think it's good enough, right now Harry's fine with just having me but then I think ten years into the future when Harry's a teenager. Boys need their father's but he'll just have me…" Emma noted and Steve could see that Danny was right about how much of a good mother that Emma was. Everything she seemed to do was in for Harry and she only wanted the best for him. It was hard for Steve to see how Emma didn't think she was enough for her son.

"I may not be a parent but I have a real respect for single parents. My mom died when I was a teenager and my dad raised my sister and I by himself before he sent us back to the mainland. As long as you do your best all that will matter to Harry is that you love him and your there from him…" Steve said in a reassuring manner.

"People say this all the time but it's true, everything you know changes when you become a parent. Your perspective changes as when your kid and especially as a teenager you think your parents are trying to ruin your life. Before I became a mom I underestimated my parents and now that I have to play both their roles I've got new found respect for my parents and I see things from their point. When Harry was born they shared my joy and when George died they shared my grief. I couldn't have asked for a better parents; they may occasionally drive me crazy but we love each other and we're always there for each other." Emma replied as she kissed the top of Harry's head.

"Danny hasn't spoke about them much but they must be good people if they raised the two of you." Steve said as he mind wondered off to imaging Mr. and Mrs. Williams, he had met two of their children who were vastly different and to imagine the people who raised them was actually quite hard.

"Yeah they are but they did bring four eccentric children into the world so they may be a little different. Then again I may be bias as they are my parents…" Emma began and Steve laughed. "But seriously they are great; I take Harry down to see them twice a month and he loves spending time with them, especially when my dad takes him down to the firehouse."

"Future firefighter?" Steve questioned.

"Maybe, let's see." Emma began before turning to Harry. "Hey buddy, can you tell mom what you want to be when you're older?"

"Cop!" Harry squeaked much to the amusement of the two adults.

"You going to work in Five-0 like your uncle?" Steve asked and Harry enthusiastically nodded. "I guess we have an answer for now."

"Until we go back to New York and he decides he wants to be just like his mom when he's in older." Emma said before she was interrupted by the dulcet tone of her brother's voice booming across the room and so the three of them got up and made their way out of Steve's office.

"Danno!" Harry cried letting go of Emma's hand and running over to Danny who picked him.

"Hey Oz man! What are you doing here?" Danny asked the moment that he saw his sister.

"Your nephew was tiring of your daily phone calls, he wanted to see you in person after all that is the reason we came to Hawaii Daniel." Emma quipped before turning to Steve and giving him a knowing look and the Steve couldn't help but grin.

"Oh right… Chin- Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua I'd like you to meet Emma and Oz-I mean Harry Williams, my sister and nephew." Danny said ignoring his sister's statement and turning his attention to Chin Ho and Kono who had came in with him and had yet to meet Emma.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Chin Ho said as he and Kono shook hands with Emma.

"Same, Danny's told me a lot about the two of you." Emma replied.

"Emma what the hell is Oz wearing?" Danny demanded as he held his nephew out to reveal the tropical shirt that the boy was wearing before resting harry back on his hip. "Seriously Emma? You put him in one of these hideous things."

"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean everyone else agrees with you and besides Harry wanted it. So I brought it for him and he looks adorable in it so the shirt stays!" Emma retorted sticking her tongue out at Danny, an action that Harry soon followed suit in which caused Kono, Chin Ho and Steve all to laugh.

"She is right Danny–" Steve began.

"Harry does look adorable." Kono finished.

Danny rolled his eyes, sometimes he wondered how on earth he still had his sanity when he was surrounded by people whose sanity was questionable. "Of course he does! He's four years old but trust me in a few years he'll grow out of it and I guarantee that if you show Oz a photo of him in this when he's sixteen he will ask you if you were out of your mind when you dressed him in this."

"To which I'll reply that I brought him to Hawaii so the picture stays and I'll have you know that my son will always be adorable! Unlike his dear old Uncle Daniel who grew out of it at age five." Emma retorted.

"You must think your funny!" Danny asked.

Emma rolled her eyes in a similar manner to Danny, which wasn't lost on the rest of the group who watched the two siblings interact. It was weird for Steve to watch Danny so much with someone who wasn't him. But then it just added to his theory that Danny was a confrontational person who liked to argue. "Yes but mostly I think I'm right."

"Yet again with the shoes… what is with you and wearing converses you're not fifteen anymore." Danny questioned pointing to the shoes that Emma were wearing and Steve couldn't help but frown. He had heard Emma and Danny argue about plenty of things but shoes were anew one.

"Hey these are comfortable and practical plus these are classics and they will never go out of fashion but if we're on the topic of clothing. Why are you still wearing a tie? We're in Hawaii!" Emma quipped. "I've been here for five days and I'm pretty sure you are the only person I've seen wearing one!"

"Stop going on about the tie!"

"Then stop going on about my shoes!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Emma retorted and the two of them both stopped as they had forgotten whose turn it was to insult the other and they each took a deep breath. "But back to my original point, your nephew would like to see more of you before we return back to New York. My vacation time will be pretty much gone so It'll be a while before we would visit again."

"How about you come over to my place tonight and I'll cook you dinner?" Danny offered and Steve had to bite his tongue to avoid laughing out loud. The idea of Danny cooking was a joke not to mention the three of them being in his tiny apartment was another.

"Can't do tonight, we're going to meet Rachel and Grace in a bit and hang out before going to dinner" Emma said sticking out her tongue at Danny.

"Your going out to dinner with my ex-wife? Where is your sense of family loyalty Em!" Danny demanded.

"Just because the two of you got divorced doesn't mean we stopped being friends and it'll be good for Harry and Grace to see each other whilst we're here. So there's not any family loyalty problems here as Grace is family which makes Rachel family by extension." Emma quipped and Danny just glared at her.

"How about we all get together at my place this weekend and have a barbeque?" Steve offered. "That way you can all spend time together and we can get to know Emma and Oz without worrying about you giving them food poisoning Danny…"

"Thanks Steven." Danny replied gritting his teeth.

"No problem Daniel, you have Grace this weekend right?" Steve questioned ignoring Danny in favor of his sister. He found himself liking Emma more every time that he spoke to her and the fact that she liked winding Danny up as mush as he did mad him like her more. "What do you think Emma? You and Harry up for that? Between Kono, Chin-Ho and myself we can show how we do things here in Hawaii?"

Emma smiled at Steve and moments later they both turned to Danny wearing smirks that reminded Danny disturbingly of the Cheshire cat. "We'd love too."


	4. Chapter 4

"Stop that"

Steve sighed as he turned to Danny, for some reason his partner was still annoyed about the whole barbeque thing and had made his feelings about it perfectly clear for the rest of the week. Including today which just so happened to be the day of the barbeque. Danny was in a real grumpy and cranky mood today, which Steve didn't get as it was a beautiful day in Hawaii and his partner was surrounded by his family. Grace was here as was Emma and Danny, that would have been enough to satisfy a normal person but Steve had to remind himself that Danny wasn't normal despite his partner's persistence that he was normal. It was actually quite funny, so Steve allowed Danny to go about thinking he was normal. Despite the fact that no normal person wore a tie in Hawaii. "Stop what Daniel?"

"Stop looking at my sister like that Steven." Danny clarified wearily glaring at Steve.

"Like what? All I'm doing is watching her play with Grace and Harry, for god sake Danny stop being so paranoid." Steve replied as he pointed his beer in the direction of where Emma was running around and chasing Grace and Harry. It was a nice scene to see the three of them running around laughing with wide grins on their faces.

"Paranoid? Trust me Steve I am not being paranoid as the last guy who looked at my sister like that got her pregnant so no, I am not being paranoid. So whatever it is that is going on in your sick and twisted little mind; it stops now because it will never going to happen as my sister is off limits to you! Not to mention she's going back to New York soon where she will be even more off limits to you."

Steve didn't respond to this at first, okay so he may have been looking at Emma in a way that maybe he shouldn't have. But he couldn't help it, he was a man and she was a very beautiful and attractive woman despite being related to Danny. "Are you always this wound up when it comes to her? And are you going to be like this when Grace is old enough to date?"

"I know how men think, so yes I am always wound up when it comes to my sister because as Emma's older brother it is my job to look out at protect her from unsavory and unwanted male suitors such as yourself." Danny began as he took a sip of his beer. "And Grace won't be allowed to date until she's at least thirty… Make that thirty five."

As a brother himself Steve could respect that but he still thought Danny was being a bit too overly protective and uptight about the matter. He understood about Grace as she was Danny's daughter but his sister was a grown woman with a job and a child and as far as Steve had seen, Emma seemed to be able to hold her own. But if he told Danny that his head would probably explode. So he'd keep that little observation to himself. "Whatever you say Danno…"

"Smile!"

Steve hadn't noticed that Emma was no longer with Grace and Harry but now standing in front of him and Danny holding a camera right in front of the. "Why?" Danny asked.

Emma rolled her eyes as put the camera down. "Because I want to take a photograph of you and Steve together, that's why Danny. So for once stop being miserable, smile and pretend that you're having a good time."

"What's with the pictures?" Danny demanded as he took the camera from Emma and begin browsing through the pictures much to her displeasure and Steve just watched as another Williams' sibling spat was about to erupt. Steve hadn't been keeping close count but he was pretty sure they were somewhere in between seven and ten. It wasn't as bad as it usually was as Grace and Harry were acting like buffers as Emma and Danny tried their best not to argue in front of the kids. It was the only thing that they seemed to agree on.

"It's called capturing memories, to look back on later and remember the past not to mention it's something to show mom and dad when I go home to visit them. It's something you might want to think about doing sometime in the near future Danny."

"Well given the fact that I have Ansel Adams for a sister, I really don't think I have to seeing as you seem to have it covered, Em."

Emma laughed wearily before rolling her eyes at Danny. "That doesn't even make any sense Danny considering the fact that Ansel Adam is most known for his photographs of the western united stated and I generally take photos of people you ignoramus. So don't make comparisons about things you know nothing about."

"Oh, so while were on the subject about talking about things we know nothing about maybe you'll stop telling me how to do my job, considering I'm the detective…" Danny quickly retorted.

"I can tell you how to do your job because I'm a lawyer and I have to prosecute your cases and the amount of cases I've seen fall apart because shoddy police work!" Emma tossed back without even having to think or bat an eyelid at her brother's response.

"That's the thing with all you lawyers, you're all the same just sharks. Think you know everything but just because you went to school for seven years and have some big office doesn't mean you know everything–"

"Danno, are you and Aunt Emma arguing again? You know Grandma doesn't like it when you do." Grace questioned interrupting Danny mid stream of his rant as she stood by the three adults, holding her cousin's hand.

"Of course we're not arguing monkey, your aunt and I were just talking really loudly–" Danny began.

"–Because your dad told me that the food at Sal's was much better than Grandma's and that's impossible because as good as food there is at Sal's, there is nothing better in this world than your grandmother's food. Speaking of Grandma, I think we should call her and Grandpa and say hi." Emma quipped as she led both Grace and Harry away not before sticking her tongue out at Danny.

"Why that little brat… Can you believe what she did?" Danny murmured as he took a swing of his beer, no doubt Emma was getting him in trouble with their mother because of the shark comment. Their mother was going to kill him if she believed that he thought that Sal's was better than any of her home cooked meals.

"Actually I can." Steve said as he laughed at Danny's reaction, him and Emma loved winding each other up but clearly Emma was the better one at it. Danny was in such a state, it would probably take a week for him to get over all the jibes and insults that Emma had thrown his way during her visit. Steve had to admit that it was a shame that Emma was leaving as he liked having her around, she was fun to be around and knew how to have a good time.

"Why am in not surprised that your taking my sister's side in all of this yet?" Danny sighed as he picked looked at his sister's camera. "Photo's are actually pretty good, Em's always been good with a camera, she was the photographer for both the year book and the school paper and the editor. Has a real talent for it, could have been some big shot photographer if she hadn't decided to go into law…

"Then why the whole song and dance about her taking a few pictures? If you've just admitted that she's good." Steve asked as Danny's behaviour made no sense, he insulted her most of the time but now he was stating that Emma was a pretty good photographer.

"It's complicated McGarrett, it's just how me and Emma communicate." Danny said offhandedly.

"She came all this way to see you Danny, you might want to make an effort instead of arguing. It can't be good for either Grace or Harry "

"I'm getting advice on how to deal with my sister from the pac man in army pants who has relationship problems with his sister?" Danny retorted with a roll of his eyes as he wearily looked at his beer before sighing. He was either drunk or there was something in this beer other than alcohol because he could not believe he was getting alive from Steve of all people. "Look I get it, don't you think I know that my sister is a great mom, photographer and a great lawyer? Overall she is a great person, but there's been something going on with her at the moment and up until the other day I couldn't put my finger on what it was."

"What do you mean? Is she in trouble?" Steve asked as he glanced over to Emma who was talking with Mary Ann and Chin Ho.

"No but she hasn't been acting like herself, it's hard to explain but she's been down despite her best attempts not to show it. You wouldn't be able to tell as you haven't known Emma for long but there's this look she gets in her eyes whenever something is wrong. No matter how much she forces a smile on her face she can't get rid of that look in her eyes. I've tried asking her what's going on but she won't tell me, always gives me everything is fine so I went to the last resort. I called our mother to see if she knew. Turns out Emma's best friend died last month, had a brain aneurysm, he was only thirty-one years old." Danny sighed with a sigh.

"Wow…" Steve quietly said as he glanced over to look at Emma, there was nothing in her behaviour that suggested that she had just lost her best friend as she seemed to happy. But like Danny had said, he didn't know her enough to pick up on the signs.

"Oliver Cole. Olly as we all knew him as, he and Em had known each other since they were kids and were thick as thieves. When they were sixteen they were in a car accident, Oliver's car had been hit by a drink driver, luckily neither of them were seriously hurt but Emma was trapped in the car and Olly stayed by her side even they were using the jaw of life. The two of them were inseparable, he was the one who introduced her to George and he's Harry godfather then after George died and Emma couldn't bare to be in New Jersey. anymore and decided to move to New York he went with her."

"How's she doing?" Steve asked.

"No idea which means she's taking it very hard but she hasn't said a word about it to me, she wants to pretend everything's normal and as much as I don't want to I'd do anything for my sister. So if arguing with her about everything under the sun helps her then I'll do it." Danny replied as he took a sip of his beer.

"You're a good brother." Steve noted, he thought that Danny was just arguing with Emma for the sake of it but it turns he was doing it because he loved her and just to protect her as best as he could.

Danny looked at Steve as if he had lost his mind. "Of course I am.


	5. Chapter 5

In four days time Emma and Harry was going back to the mainland and Danny had yet to talk to her and the death of her best friend. Steve just couldn't understand it as Danny was still pretending like everything was fine and whilst Steve understood that, there was only so far Danny could go along with it before he had to talk to Emma about it. Danny had told him to leave it alone but Steve just couldn't. Emma had lost best friend and there was no way that she was just fine about it and Steve wanted to let her know that it was okay to be upset about it. That she didn't have to feel like she couldn't tell Danny about it. Which is how Steve ended up outside the door of their hotel room and waiting for Emma to open the door. This had the potential to blow up in his face but Steve was willing to take the chance as Emma didn't seem quick to temper like Danny given that she was the more mellow of the two of them.

"Hey Emma, is this a bad time?" Steve asked when the door opened and he could tell that she was surprised to see him.

"No it's fine Harry's down for a nap so I'm all yours. Steve" Emma replied as she motioned for Steve to come in and as he did she quietly shut the door behind him and then both sat down on the couches in the suite. "Is this about Danny? Has something happened to him?"

"No he's fine, it's actually about you." Steve began slowly, he knew Danny was going to kill him or least not speak to him for a week when he found out what he was doing. "He's worried about you but Danny doesn't want to say anything to you about it."

Emma eyed Steve carefully before taking a deep breath. "He knows, doesn't he? Danny knows that Olly's dead, I figured as much… It was only a matter of time before he did and I'm assuming that our mother told him considering that only her and our dad know. I asked them not tell my siblings as I needed time but Danny's always had a flair for getting my mom to betray her confidence."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Steve said.

"Thank you, it's still taking a while for it to sink in despite the fact that we knew that it was going to happen but I still can't believe that Olly's been gone a month already. It's just crazy to think that he's dead as the two of us did almost everything together so it's kind of hard to do things without him…" Emma began wearily and that's when Steve noticed it. The look that Danny said Emma got in her eyes when everything was not fine. He could see it as plan as day. As beautiful and bright as Emma's eyes always seemed to be, Steve could now see the sadness and sorrow.

"Danny said that it was a brain tumor, it must have been hard." Steve slowly said, trying to be as sensitive as he was and Emma gave him a small laugh.

"Oliver Cole was the last person you'd expect to get a brain tumor, he was insane but in a good way. Always wanting to have fun and try out new things, whenever we went off I was never allowed to pay the bill. To Olly, socializing was a tax write off and things were always like that with us. We'd go out and have fun but I could always expect him to turn up at my front door for Sunday dinner no matter how hungover or busy he was. But then things changed, he'd been getting these chronic headaches for a few weeks and then he collapsed at work one day, they took him to the hospital and he had some tests done where it was discovered that he had a tumor and that it was inoperable. Olly kept it to himself for the first month and I never suspected anything because he was his usual fun loving and happy self. Then he finally broke; Olly couldn't take it anymore and so he told me, said that he had a brain tumor and that the doctors said he had less than six months to live. I thought it was a joke until I noticed that Olly was crying and he never cries, that's when I knew he was telling the truth…"

"It must have been hard for the both of you." Steve stated and Emma shrugged her shoulders and Steve couldn't help but notice that she was trying her hardest not to cry.

"I guess but Olly didn't want us to focus on it that much so he distracted us from it but it was there in the back of his mind constantly. A week after he told me he had already arranged his funeral sorted out, a live in nurse and got his affairs in order. Told me he wanted to spend his last few months with the two people who meant the most to him; Harry and I. Olly still went to work for another two months before I got him to quit and even then he wouldn't take things slow, despite the fact he was sick he always put others before himself. That's what I loved most about Olly, he was the person you could call in a crisis, in fact he was the first person I called when I thought I was pregnant. When I was taking the tests he kept distracting me by commenting on how my family or rather Danny and my dad were going to go ape if the tests were positive." Emma said with a teary smile before sighing. "First thing he did when the test came back positive was empty out the liquor cabinet as he said I wouldn't be needing them anymore. Then asked if he could be my birthing coach."

The two of them sounded really close and it was clear to Steve that Emma really missed him. "Danny said you had been friends since you were kids."

Emma slowly nodded. "Yeah and everyone thought that we'd get together eventually but we weren't like that. I loved him but not in a romantic way, we loved each other like brother and sister. We were completely different though but we just somehow got along despite the fact that I'm lawyer with a child where as Olly was a bachelor, he enjoyed the single life, smoking cigars, drinking scotch and spending his money as he saw fit he wasn't ready to settle down and have a family. But he liked have a 'disposable' family as he liked to call Harry and I…"

Steve frowned. "Disposable family?"

"A family without the responsibility." Emma explained with a brief smile on her face. "Said he could do the fun stuff and then kick us out when he was bored with us but truth be told he never did. As much as he'd never admit it, he liked having us around. I think it was his biggest regret; not having a family of his own. So we'd stay over two or three times a week for the last few months at his apartment as my brother Matt was rarely ever home. And then we got near the end, Olly got worse and he didn't want Harry to see him like that so I sent him to stay with my parents, I told my mom that I had a really big case. But when she and dad came to pick him up they saw Olly and figured it all out… After that it was just the two of us, I took time off work to be with him as I couldn't leave him. I had to be there with him at the end and I was, it was the two of us as always along with his parents and his two brothers. Olly died with a smile on his face, I wouldn't have expected anything less…"

Steve cleared his throat before taking a deep breath. "Why you haven't told Danny?"

"The same reason why Danny hasn't mentioned it; you've seen the two of us Steve. We can barely go five minutes without arguing. All Danny and I are good for is winding each other up, I push his buttons and he comes back with an insult. As much as I love my brother; there are certain things that I just can't talk to him about. Watching my best friend die, is just one of those things…" Emma grimly noted.

"Yeah he knows that, pretty much said the same thing to me when I asked, which is why I assume he hasn't said anything to you yet."

"How long has Danny known?" Emma asked.

"A couple of days before the barbeque I assume, we were talking at the barbeque about you and why the two of you argued and it came out. "

"That's why I came to Hawaii, it wasn't just to see Danny but it was to also to clear my head. So I decided to hop on a plane to the pineapple infested hellhole that my brother kept complaining about." Emma quipped and Steve couldn't help but laugh. It amazed Steve how strong Emma was; she had lost two of the most important men in her life in the past two years and yet she was determined to carry on. "My parents were smothering me with attention and I just couldn't handle it anymore so I need to escape. They thought I was going to have some kind of mental breakdown because of what happened. And I'm trying my hardest not to be sad although it's hard but Olly didn't want me to be sad and I promised him that I wouldn't and that I name my first born daughter after him."

"Your first born daughter?" Steve asked skeptically.

"Originally Olly and I made a bet that if I got into law school that I'd have to name my first born child after him but just before Harry was born, George's friend was killed in the line of duty and so we chose to name Harry after him. So then Olly decided that if he couldn't have that then he would have my first born daughter or next born son."

"You're a good friend Emma, I don't think many people would be able to watch a friend die. "

"Maybe."


	6. Chapter 6

The two Williams siblings stood and watched the sun set on the beach in silence with their shoulders barely touching and for the first time since this whole strip, managing to be in the same vicinity with each other without arguing. Tonight was Emma and Harry's last night in Hawaii and as such they had gone out with Grace, Rachel and Stan for dinner and all parties had agreed to behave themselves. Minutes earlier Danny had excused himself from the table and asked Emma to come with him which is how they ended up standing on the beach, mere yards from their table watching their sunset. Danny glanced over at his sister and swallowed very loudly, he couldn't believe what he was about to do but he had to man up and do this because no matter how annoying Emma was; she was his little sister and he loved her very much. "Look Em' we need to talk…"

"I know Danny. I know that you know that Olly's dead. So we don't have to do this, it's okay." Emma began as she turned to face her brother with a small smile on her face. She knew this conversation had been coming and she was fine with it now. If Danny wanted to talk about Olly then Emma would talk to him about it.

"How'd you know?" Danny began there was no way that their mother would have told Emma that he knew, neither would their father. Which left one person, the only person that Danny had told that he knew. Steven McGarrett. He should have known that the navy man wouldn't let it go, after all Steve just couldn't help but interfere in things. "Steve…"

Emma quietly laughed. "Don't be mad Danny, Steve's a good guy and he's just worried about the two of us. It's rather sweet actually…"

"Of course you would say that" Danny scoffed,

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Emma asked as she narrowed her eyes at her brother, she was exactly sure where her brother was going with that but she wasn't certain she liked it. She liked Steve very much and couldn't see why on earth her brother complained about him so much. But then again she was a woman, so could be a masculinity issue with her brother considering that Steve was tall, very attractive with the whole Navy Seal and Hawaiian thing going for him whilst Danny to put it quite simply was short, a cranky and cynical cop from New Jersey not to mention her brother.

"Never mind but what I'm trying to say Em is that mom's worried about you and so am I. Why didn't you tell me that Olly died not to mention that he was sick in the first place?" Danny questioned.

"Do I really have to answer that one?" Emma asked with a sigh, given the fact that the two of them both already knew the answer to that question. She didn't tell Danny because she didn't know how to tell. She never knew how to tell him anything which is how Danny always ended up finding out things about her from other people. Emma didn't tell him she was pregnant, she hadn't been the one to tell him that George had died, or that she was moving to New York and then the she hadn't told him about Olly.

"Fine. How are you doing?"

Emma looked back at the ocean. "Honestly I don't know Danny, I have bad days and good days. It's taking some time to adjust that the fact that Olly isn't here anymore. I knew he was going to die but it just doesn't seem real, Olly was one of those people you'd thought would live-forever but I have to keep reminding myself that he's gone. He was the same age as me Danny, he was my best friend and I actually don't know how to live without him…"

"I know he was." Danny quietly said.

"I was barely managing after he died, I was getting by day by day and then two weeks ago I got a call from an old friend of his parents informing me that he needed to speak to me as Olly had named him executor of his will. I went down to his office and I found out that Olly left me everything Danny, his apartment, money, personal belongings, he'd even set up a college find for Harry and a note saying that he'll haunt me if I forget to name my next child after him. I had a meltdown in the office. Olly expected that so when I got to his lawyer's office there was a glass of scotch waiting for me."

"Wow… he left you everything." Danny said stunned.

"Yeah, he said that despite the fact that we didn't need the money because of George, he wanted the most important people in his life to be happy. So he was giving us the next most important things in his life that made him happy to do with as we pleased." Emma said as she wiped her face. "I wasn't expecting that, it was like Olly wanted to make sure that I'd be happy…"

"He was a good man."

"The best." Emma reaffirmed sniffling, the last thing she wanted to do was start crying especially in front of Danny but it was too late. But at least he was being kind enough to pretend not to notice.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Go home of course, I have work and then I need to decide what I'm going to do. I need to finish sorting out all of Olly's things and I'm not sure whether or not I want to move into his apartment. I don't think I can in live in the apartment knowing that he spent his last moments there and being surrounding by all his things but then I don't want to give it up either. Some of the best memories I have of his last months were the two of us sitting his bed watching a film and just talking…" Emma began.

"Why don't you move? Get away from New York and start somewhere fresh." Danny suggested.

Emma scoffed, that's exactly what she did when George died and now she was practically right back in the same position as she was just over two years go. "To where? And if you say back home with mom and dad I may just punch you in the face."

"Here." Danny offered. "Why don't you and Oz move here?"

"I think somebody has been getting too much sun as of late because I think your losing your mind if your asking me to move to Hawaii off all places." Emma said with a shake of her head.

"Look Em, we're all worried about you because you've suffered a great loss we all know how important Olly was to both you and Oz. Just like George was and after he died you moved from home to New York to live with Matt because you couldn't stay there anymore. Matt is always going off somewhere for work and I don't want you to be alone, I didn't put up too much of a fuss when you moved with him because Olly went with you but he's not here with you. I know that you're an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself but you're my little sister and Oz is my nephew so I'll never stop looking out for you. So let me…"

Emma looked at her brother with wide eyes, Danny actually sounded serious about this. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes, I may hate this island but it has it rare moments and I know that you and Oz love it here. Besides I'm here as is Grace not to mention Rachel and it would be good for you not to mention Oz to be around family. Plus I'm starting to lose my mind being around all these people, who don't understand a what it means to have a good slice." Danny said as he gently nudged his sister gently in the ribs.

"This is crazy, you know that right?" Emma couldn't help but point out, her brother was asking her to make such a big and life changing decision whilst they were standing on the beach.

Danny nodded, of course he knew that when he first started thinking about asking Emma to move here but she was his sister and he needed to take care of her. "Yes and I will probably regret it in the near future but I want you and Oz to move here."

"I'll have to get my license to practice in Hawaii, not to mention look for a new job, somewhere to live just to name just a few of the many required things that I'd have to. Not to mention tell mom and dad…"

"But it's not impossible?" Danny questioned as he could see the corners of his sister's mouth slowly turning up.

Emma smiled and Danny put his arm over her shoulders and the two of them both laughed. They were going to drive each other more crazy than usual given the fact that they'd been living in city and interacting with each other more than they usually did. It was safe to assume that this probably wouldn't end well but then again it couldn't have ended up as bad as living in New York was for Emma. So maybe Hawaii could be different for her and Harry. "No it's not… So I guess Harry and I are moving to this pineapple invested hellhole."

That was quite possibly the best news Danny had heard in months since he moved to Hawaii and so he lifted up Emma and spun her around before placing her back on the ground and hugging her. It was unexpected but nice for the two of them. It was the start of something new.


	7. Chapter 7

Two and a half months. That is how long it took Emma Williams to pack up her life in Washington D.C. and move to Hawaii. Emma and Oz came to visit Danny in mid to late October and Emma had everything sorted before new years. It was now the 5th of January 2011 and her along with Oz, Mary and the rest of the Five-0 team were unloading the last remaining boxes into the house. Steve had to admit he was very impressed and when he had asked Emma how she managed to get her license plus get a new job and house in that amount of time whilst managing to sell her best friends old apartment and pack up her entire life, she told him that she was a single mother and that meant she could do anything if she put her mind to it. "C'mon Em, can you just tell me?" Danny asked as he placed a boxed on the floor and looked to his sister who was hammering a nail into the all.

"For the last time Danny I'm not telling how much I paid for the house, you should be grateful that your nephew and I have a beautiful home here in Hawaii to call our own." Emma replied as she picked up a frames picture and hung it on the wall before stepping back to observe her handwork. "All I'm going to tell you that the money I got from selling Olly's apartment was more than enough to pay for this house."

"So were talking about a couple of millions?"

"No Daniel were not, I did not pay anything over seven figures for this house it's in the six figures region and that is all I'm going to tell you as my finical situation is none of your business." Emma quipped as she tilted the picture she had just hung up a little to the left.

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace" Chin Ho read from the framed photo which had that quote written on a piece of yellow lined paper. "Who said that?"

"Thomas Paine, he was an author, radical propagandist and the voice of the common man and often referred to as one of the founding fathers of the United States." Steve commented in passing as he walked through the living room towards the kitchen.

"Very good Steve, I'm impressed." Emma said with a small chuckle as she turned back to Chin Ho. "My husband George wrote it down so it could remind us why we do the jobs that we do after a really tough day. It was three months after Harry was born and I was just returning to work when we got the news that George was being called back to serve in Afghanistan."

"Hey Em! Where do you want us to put these boxes?" Danny called out.

Emma excused herself and went to the kitchen where Steve and Danny were waiting with two boxes in their hands. "Depends, what do the boxes say?" Emma asked.

"George's stuff." Steve replied with as much sensitivity as he could, he wasn't sure how Emma was going to react but apparently he didn't need to as she didn't even seem fazed by it. For someone who had lost her husband and then her best friend consecutively in the past two years, she wasn't one of those people who let their grief consumed her. Steve found it rather endearing.

"I thought you got rid of George's things?" Danny questioned

"I did, well most of it... I kept some of George's things for Harry in the future, when he's old enough to understand and know who George was. It's stuff like the flag, his medals and important things throughout George's life. My son deserves to know who his father was and the memories that I have of his father won't be enough he needed to have something more. So I put the stuff in a box and you can go ahead and just leave them in my office, I'll figure out what to do with them later.

Danny walked over to his sister and gave her a small nudge seeing as he still had the box in his hand. "That's really sweet, it's going to mean a lot to Oz in the future."

"You're a good mom." Steve said in agreement to Emma as he and Danny navigated their way through the house until they found Emma's office and placed the boxes in there per her request. Whilst Danny went to go get another box and possible hassle Emma about something, Steve went out to the back yard where his own sister was playing with Oz with an assortment of cardboard boxes.

"Hey Steve!" Mary greeted brightly and Oz waved at him briefly before resuming playing with his boxes. "So what's up?"

"Nothing much."

"Danny must be happy that Emma and Oz are finally here for good." Mary said in an attempt to make conversations whilst the two Williams siblings always had something to talk about whether they were at each other's throats about something stupid or agreeing on the fact that fruit i.e. pineapples should not be on a pizza. The conversation between them two was always natural unlike Steve and Mary's ones at times. Because of the amount of time they had spent away from each other considering the last time they had saw each other was their mother's funeral things were slightly awkward between the two."

"For now." Steve began with a chuckle, he'd give it a week until his partner would start complaining that his sister was driving him up the wall and made him wonder why on earth he'd ask her to move to Hawaii. "You and Emma seem to have hit it off."

"Yeah… Our brother's do work together and she's new to the island and I've got some free time on my hands not to mention there's no much of an age difference between us. I like her, we've hung out a few times and gone shopping together and Emma's really nice not to mention funny and Oz is adorable but I think that you already know that." Mary replied.

"What that Oz is adorable? He's four years old Mary of course he's adorable." Steve said with a shake of a head, sometimes he honestly wondered what went on in his sister's head at time.

"That's now what I'm talking about Steve and you know it, I'm talking about the fact you like his mother and don't even think about trying to deny it Steve." Mary quipped in amusement.

"What are you talking about Mary? Emma's and I are just friends and she's Danno's sister." Steve said, so he and Emma got on and he happened to think that she was beautiful but that's all that there was to it. Not only was Emma the sister of his partner but she was also a widow not to mention a mother to a young child. Besides Danny's head would probably explode if he ever did.

"C'mon Steve just admit that your attracted to Emma, that's nothing wrong with it because she is really pretty and it's kind of obvious to everyone that you both like each other. Even Danny's noticed it but he pretends like hell that he doesn't, so just man up and ask her out." Mary prompted.

"Mary it's complicated." Steve said in an attempt to avoid the question and getting his sister to drop the subject but Steve knew his sister well enough to know what she wouldn't. if there was one thing that his sister was it was stubborn.

"Why are you seeing someone?" Mary demanded, fully invested in the conversation as she managed to keep an eye on Harry at the same time.

"No."

"Then what's the problem Steve? Why are you making thing so complicated for yourself? For once being Steve the ninja and just be a normal guy and go out and have some fun." Mary scolded.

"She's just gone through a huge upheaval Mary not to mention that she's a mother and a widow." Steve said despite the fact the last two things weren't really a problem but he just wanted to end this conversation. Him and Mary talking about him love life was frankly quite weird and disturbing.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yeah two years ago and just because her husband died doesn't mean that she's any less of a woman nor does it get rid of the face that you're very attracted to her. God Steve, just ask her if she want to have dinner with you sometime and you can either cook her something or take her out to a nice restaurant. It's not that hard! If you won't do it, I'll ask her for you!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, well if it isn't the new Deputy Prosecutor Emma Williams… how's the new job working out it must be different then working in New York?" Kono asked as Emma walked through the doors of Five-0 and towards the group. "

Emma grinned. "Certainly different from New York but I was expecting that and crime is crime anywhere so it's all fine by me as long as I'm doing my job. Everyone is great in my office and my bosses have thrown me in head first and my caseload is becoming a small mountain on my office desk but that's the job."

"So what can we do for you today?" Is this an official visit or a personal one?" Steve asked, not that he wasn't pleased to see Emma because he was. Since they helped her move into he house, he hadn't seen her much and from what he had gathered neither did Danny but the two of them were just weird like that.

"Not official one yet but maybe in the near future I'm here for a personal one, I thought I'd come by and say hello and drop off a nice home made lunch for Danny." Emma replied as she handed a tupperware container to Danny who took it and looked at the container before his eyes. "What Danny? Can't I pay a visit to my brother and bring him a nice meal? I thought you'd be happy seeing as it's mom's lasagna."

"What do you want Emma?" Danny questioned.

Emma rolled her eyes in bemusement, her brother wasn't one for small talk he just got straight down to it, Hawaii and it's easy going nature had clearly not had an effect on her brash and sarcastic brother. "Hello Daniel, how are you? I'm good and so is Harry it's nice to see you…" Emma drawled.

"Danny are you always this paranoid? Your sister just brought you lunch and your convinced that there is a hidden meaning behind." Steve asked, it's not everyday that Danny got a homemade lunch delivered to him and if he was just going to complain about it Steve would be more than happy to eat it for him.

Danny snorted. "My sister does not bring me food without there being a reasons, last time we were here and Emma came to my office with a nice home cook meal and brownies was when she was twenty six years old and it was to tell me that she was pregnant and had no intention of getting married.

"I take it he didn't take it well." Chin-Ho stated.

"Not exactly…" Emma began as she struggled to stop herself from laughing, "Danny didn't speak to me for two weeks, he wasn't too thrilled about my announcement and I was pretty sure he was going to kill George or try to… It's only when our mother threatened to never let him step foot in her home again."

"Is that how you want to tell it Em? Because the way I remember it is that you told mom, dad, Matt, Jenny before you even told me. But you didn't tell me, I found out from Jenny that you were pregnant a week before you finally got round to telling me. Everyone else found out before I did…" Danny retorted.

"Jenny?" Steve asked.

"Our younger sister Jennifer." Danny explained before turning his attention back to Emma.

"Okay I admit that maybe I shouldn't have waited so long and I told everyone not to say a word about it until I had spoken to you but how the hell was I to know that Jenny jumped the gun? Anyway that's in the past and it's not why I'm here, I need a favor." Emma admitted with a casual shrug of her shoulder. "I need you to babysit Harry tomorrow night for a couple of hours.

"Why? You're his mother why can't you take care of him?"

"And you're his uncle and I'd rather not use this card but you are his closet male relative and as such one of his few male role models considering dad's in New Jersey and Matt's in New York. Look a few co-workers want to go out I wasn't able to get a sitter and I kind of need a break, this move has been stressful to say the least and along with my job I have an adorable and rather energetic four year old to deal with and sometimes mommy needs a break." Emma calmly stated.

Danny sighed, his sister was good at this guilt-tripping thing and she knew it. "Are you going to guilt trip me every time you want me to baby sit Oz?"

"No I'll just resort to bribing you with food or threaten to call mom on you so I'll see you tomorrow evening round about 7, don't worry I'll get you some beers and I'll out in a good word for you with mom so enjoy your lunch," Emma quipped happily.

"What does Emma mean she'll put in a good word with your mom?" Steve questioned.

"My mother isn't exactly thrilled that Emma and Oz now live in Hawaii because while she wasn't happy when I followed Grace and Rachel here, but as she still had one grandchild nearby she was happy. Not that her only grandchildren are both here she's not exactly talking to me." Danny said through gritted teeth as Emma tried her hardest not to laugh.

"Speaking of family, there's something I might have neglected to mention in order to keep your blood pressure down." Emma began briefly looking at her shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world before slowly backing away. "I've gotta run I have court in an hour so I'll see you later…"

"Emma… what aren't you telling me?" Danny demanded.

"Matty called me a couple of days ago and we got talking about everything and how he hasn't see you and Grace since before you moved here and he said that now that Harry and I were here it gave him an excuse–"

"No." Danny stated with a shake of his head, he could only deal with one of his crazy siblings on this island at a time not two of them especially not Matt and Emma together. The two of them were lethal together. Why couldn't it be Jenny? He could deal with both of sisters in relative peace but it just had to be Matt…

Emma bit her lip in order not to laugh, it was obvious that her brother was trying his hardest not to blow a gasket "Yes."

"When?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, you know Matt likes to turn up unexpected."


	9. Chapter 9

"So Hurricane Matthew has just touched down in Hawaii and already the effects have been felt, so I thought I'd call and give you a heads up so he doesn't catch you off guard." Danny said on the phone to Emma as he sat in the front passenger seat of his car as Steve drove them to their next destination.

"Oh I know he's here, Matty called me earlier this morning to let me know of his arrival and to make sure I left work at a reasonable hour so we could all have dinner together." Emma replied with a small laugh. "So what can I expect from dear old Matthew when I finally see him."

"You? Nothing but Oz on the hand has loads coming his way, Matt had this huge stack of gifts waiting for Grace when we got to his hotel room and then was another pile waiting for Oz. You tell him not to spoilt them but he can't help himself… " Danny noted.

"Of course he can't, look Danny we know despite mom's constant pestering at him to settle down and have kids it's highly likely that it's not going to happen. Matt's a Wall Street playboy who lacks the maturity to be a parent and the closet thing he's ever going to get to having kids is Harry and Grace so if he wants to spoil them let him. The love him and he loves them, really that's all that matters." Emma replied as looked over some papers. "So what are the three of you up to? Matt says he has a tone of things planned and if I didn't have court tomorrow I would have taken the day off to join you all."

"Hmm… he was going on about feeding sharks, I'm pretty certain that he has finally lost his damn mind because in case he's forgotten we're from New Jersey. We don't go anywhere near sharks, the closest we ever come to sharks is when Jaws is on tv." Danny said with a shake of head whilst Steve laughed in the background.

"You have no sense of adventure you know what Danny? We're in Hawaii, one would think you'd loosen up but you're just as stiff as ever." Emma teased. You seriously needed to lighten up a bit and have some."

"That is the exact same thing that Matt said to me this morning, are you sure that the two of you aren't twins? You don't share ESP or some other weird psychic bond?" Danny questioned skeptically but it was probably due to the fact that the two of them were as thick as thieves and Emma had most likely been living with him for far too long before she moved to Hawaii.

"Not as far as I know but if Matty's telling you that you need to lighten then you know it's bad if your getting advice from the goof meister himself." Emma replied with a small chuckle, she could tell that this combined with their brother's arrival was already pushing Danny's buttons.

"Enough about me, what about you? How comes your not with Matt and having fun." Danny says attempting to move the conversation away form himself.

"I'm at work I told you I'm due in court tomorrow and I have to prep for that so I've been stuck behind my desk for most of the day but I think I'm going to head out soon, most of this can be done at home and the walls are all starting to blur because I've been in here for far to long…" Emma wistfully said. "But wait, I thought you and Grace were with Matt?"

"I'm not with him, I got called into work a few hours ago so Grace has been with Matt for most of the day, which reminds me you know Judge Kamalei?" Danny admitted as it wasn't like Emma could have a go about it considering she was at work herself.

"Yeah he's presided over a couple of my cases of mine, we all heard about his daughter's death and it's devastating… are you investigating it?" Emma replied.

"Yeah we are and we've been trying to get through to one of your colleagues a James Chen all day but we haven't been able to reach him. Apparently he's been in court all day, is that true or just one of your lawyer time delaying tactics" Danny questioned.

"I believe that is true, I saw Chen briefly this morning but like I said I've been cooped up in my office for most of the day Daniel. But I'll ask around and see if I can get him to get back to you but I can't promise anything, Chen's been working on some big case recently."

"I need a favor."

"Depends on what it is you want and whether I'll get in trouble over it but I'm all ears so go on." Emma replied with a small chuckle.

"We think whoever killed judge Kamalei's daughter has a grudge against him and we know that your office has a team of investigators who keep tabs of threats made against anyone of the bench and we think that maybe the culprit may have threatened the judge before." Danny explained and then the phone suddenly went quiet and Danny wasn't sure whether or not his sister was still there. "Em? You still there?"

Emma let out a heartfelt sigh. "You want his threat file? I'm not sure if I can get my hands on that right this second but I'll see what I can do and I'll take to my bosses but I'm not promising anything and if I can get it the earliest you'll be able to see it is tomorrow."

"Thanks Em, I really appreciate it. I owe you big time."

"Of course you do and I'll be expecting payments in the form of your babysitting services, whenever I need them. So I'll see you later Daniel." Emma quipped before hanging up the phone.

Damn her. Never one to do anything for free Danny thought to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve sat at the outdoor table with Rachel, Grace, Danny and his infamous brother Matt as they all sat down getting ready to have a meal together. From what he could see Emma was a mix of the two of them, she had the same blonde hair as Danny but the same dark eyes as Matt not to mention that she shared the same easy going nature that Matt had and the two of them seemed to share the enjoyment of pushing Danny's buttons. "So this whole family reunion thing is nice Matt but haven't you forgetting two people? Say Emma and Oz." Danny questioned.

"As if I'd forget two of my favourite people in the world, I text Em' five minutes ago and she said that her and the Oz man will be here in mere moments. I'm surprised that you didn't tell her to meet us here." Matt quipped.

"Well Matthew, I figured that fell in your department as you're the one who decided to just up and visit Hawaii." Danny retorted with a forced smile on his face.

"Is it a crime that I want to visit my family? Especially since you somehow convinced my two roommates to move from New York all the way to Hawaii."

"Yeah I heard that, Danny mentioned in passing that Emma and Oz lived with you in New York." Steve said

"After what happened with George, we all thought it was best that Emma and Oz move back home so we could help her get through everything but she wasn't having any of it. She refused to leave until Mr. Amazing over here swept in and managed to convince Emma to move to New York and live with him in the small matter of twenty minutes." Danny said as Rachel and Grace excused themselves to go to the bathroom and Steve could tell that he didn't approve of it despite the fact that he had just done the same thing.

"Your just mad that mom's still mad at you for the fact that both her grandchildren now live here in Hawaii." Matt began before changing the subject. "So how is she and the small man doing? This thing with Olly is unreal; I can't believe she didn't tell any of about this. Mom had to tell you and then I found out from Jenny just before Emma told me she was moving here."

"Matty are you really surprised? That is classic Emma." Danny replied.

"Classic Emma?" Steve questioned.

"When something happens to Emma she won't say anything about it until she's ready, especially traumatic things she keeps things bottled up in that head of hers until it gets too much and it all comes rushing out." Matt began.

"It took her two days after George died before she called our parents to tell them and we have no idea what she was doing in that time. All we know is that she eventually called them sobbing down the phone and hours later we were all there. She kept quiet about Olly being sick for months, then when he died she only told our parents, Matt, Jenny and I all found out later on at different times." Danny continued with a small shake of her head.

"Has she said anything about him?" Matt asked.

"On and off, he was a big part of her life and she's just trying to get on with her life as best she can. But her and Oz seem happy here and I guess that's what's important, but I'm keeping an eye on her anyways." Danny said as Rachel and Grace returned to the table.

"Look there's Aunt Emma and Oz!" Grace said pointing ahead.

Steve turned to see that Emma and Oz were indeed making their way towards them until they stopped momentarily as Emma bent down and whispered something to Oz, the little boy nodded and then they continued making their way towards them. "Well if it isn't my two former roomies!" Matt began as he stood up from his chair.

"Uncle Matty!" Oz cried as he ran into his uncle's waiting arms, watching them Steve couldn't help but smile it reminded him of when he went with Danny to meet Emma and Oz at the airport.

"My… I've missed you buddy, you been a good boy for your mom?" Matt asked and Harry nodded before placing the young boy back on the ground. "Go give Uncle Danny a hug or something, I think he's a bit jealous…"

"Real nice Matt, this is why you don't have kids." Danny pointed out as he his nephew made his way over to him. "Oh, so now you come to me buddy? I thought we had a thing here? But no… as soon as Uncle Matt comes you forget it."

"And where's my hug oh baby sister who feels the need to move across the whole country and leave me alone in New York." Matt began and Emma slowly walked over to her brother and Matt picked her up and spun her around.

"Matty!" Emma squealed.

"You look good Em and you seem happy here." Matt noted as he placed his sister back on the ground.

"I am happy."

After Emma and Harry had finished doing the rounds of greeting everyone the group all sat down and ate. As the meal went on embarrassing family stories soon emerged most of them were about Danny and Emma but the majority were directed towards Emma. "Dan, do you remember winter formal Emma's freshman year of high school?" Matt prompted.

Danny grinned. "Do I ever?"

"No… you can tell anything except for this story, if you love me and are decent brothers and human beings then you will not tell this story." Emma begged as her cheeks flushed pink.

"C'mon Emma, you have to admit that it is pretty funny hands down it is one of the funniest things that has ever happened in the Williams family home other than when Dad's hand got stuck in the turkey." Danny said.

"To you maybe!" Emma retorted. "That was the single most embarrassing thing that the three of you ever did to me and I couldn't even look at Julian Donovan for a whole two years after that incident."

"Now I'm interested." Steve said sitting up in his chair, the three of them interacting we're pretty funny as instead of Emma and Matt ganging up on Danny like he expected it was actually Matt and Danny ganging up on Emma. It was nice to hear their family stories as wild and dysfunctional as most of them could be, Steve could see that they all really loved each other.

"Em either you tell it or I will." Matt teased and Emma stuck her tongue out at him.

"Fine." Emma said as she repositioned the sleeping Harry who had fallen asleep in her lap. "I was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school and I had been asked to the winter formal by the hottest and most popular guy in my grade; Julian Donovan. So on the day of the dance Julian comes to our house to pick me up but my father decides he wants a word with him just to make a few things clear and I don't think much of it… Dad's always been protective of us especially Jenna and I so everything was fine until my moronic brothers decided they want a piece of the action. So they sit themselves either side of Julian whilst dad sits directly in front of him and they educate him on the rules and expectation of dating a Williams daughter."

Steve looked at Danny. "No, you didn't…"

"Oh we did, our dad was doing the whole intimidating dad thing whilst the two of us were threatening to beat him up if he even touched Emma." Danny revealed and all of the adults burst into laughter except Emma.

"It is so not funny! Not only did Julian even hold my hand I did not have my first kiss on what was supposed to be the most important night of my life and every boy in my grade was afraid to even sit next to me in fears that these two knuckleheads would come looking for them!" Emma retorted as she couldn't help but blush, which just made the other laugh some more. He brothers just loved to embarrass her.


	11. Chapter 11

The five adults had all been having a good time with each other listening to the antics of the Williams family including a story about Danny handcuffing Matt to a monkey's cage at the zoo. Grace and Harry had long fallen asleep leaving the adults to it but after the monkey story Danny told Steve that he had seen the two guys at the bar hanging around his brother's room earlier in the day and after making them for feds and watching them leave they decided that it was best to introduce themselves and clear up any confusion about why they may be here. Turns out Matt was being investigated by the FBI and SEC for defrauding his investors out of millions of dollars. Danny wasn't exactly taking the news well.

"Listen to me I know my kid brother, okay he's a lot of things but he is not a criminal." He stated.

"Okay maybe he was set up?" Steve suggested, there as no way in hell that Danny was going to drop this and let the feds handle this, he was going to find out what this whole thing was about and get to the truth.

"Yeah maybe… listen to me I'm going to tell you something about my brother, when Rachel and I split up, I took a room in a motel down the block because I wanted to be close to Grace, this two star dump. My brother, every single night would come with a six pack of beer and all the time world and not once did I catch him looking at his watch. He just sat there talking to me, fell asleep sitting up in a chair, wake up and go straight to work. For six months, everyday for sixth months he talked me down the ledge. I am telling you I would not have gotten through that if it wasn't for him. He wouldn't do this."

"Danny we should really get Emma in on this, she could help." Steve began.

"No way that is happening my sister is not getting involved in this at all, so whatever idea you have in your head get rid of it because it's not going to happen." Danny said flat out refusing Steve's idea.

"She's a lawyer Danny she can help figure something out and if not she probably knows some good tax attorney's."

Danny shook his head, he was adamant that his sister was not to be involved with any of this in the slightest. "Steve… Emma finds out what is going on with Matt I promise you it will destroy her. When George died and Emma was a complete wreck crying for days on end, he'd sit there with her, because didn't want her to be alone. When she went to the air hanger to meet his body after it had been flown home he was there with her holding her hand, giving her the strength she needed because she was falling apart. We cannot tell her about this, these last couple of years have been rough on her with losing George and Olly, now she's in this good place and I don't want to ruin that. I will figure out something that does not involving her but you have to promise that you will not tell her."

"Danny I won't say anything to her but if she asks me I'm not going to lie." Steve said with a sigh, although he thought Emma should be involved Danny did make a good point about her and the last thing Steve wanted to hurt her. "So maybe you should talk to your brother…"

"Yeah maybe, I just don't think that this is a one time conversation." Danny said as the stress of this was all too apparent on his face as he repeatedly turned over the card the feds gave him.

"Hey that's fine, you talk to him and all the time you need, family's first right?" Steve stated patting Danny on the shoulder and Danny slowly nodded his head and the two of them returned to the table where Rachel, Emma and Matt were all talking.

"Everything okay? The two of you were gone quite a while" Emma asked when Steve and Danny returned.

"Yeah, it's fine." Steve lied although he really didn't want to lie to Emma but Danny made him swear to secrecy and the more Steve thought about it, he realized that Danny was right. Emma was getting her life back together and telling about this thing with Matt whether it was true or not could have damaging consequences.

Emma smiled. "I was just saying to Matt that I'm glad he's here Harry really misses him and having both him and Danny here had made him the happiest I've seen him since we've moved to Hawaii. He's missed having them both around and so have I."

"Well you know that your always welcome back to New York anytime which reminds me, mom called me earlier wanting me to pressure you into coming home for a visit." Matt said as he gently prodded his sister.

"I've already booked the flight for May so she can rest easy now, her and dad will have a whole four days with Harry." Emma said.

"He looks so much like dad and George but without a doubt that boy is your son through and through." Matt noted before turning to Danny. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah." Danny murmured.

"And that terrifies me given what we were like as kids and teenagers, Harry is going to give the two of you a run for your money, I can just tell." Emma said laughing quietly as she proceeded to get up and put Harry into a more comfortable position so she could carry him. "And on that note I think it's time for me to head out… the little one should be in his bed and I have court in the morning."

"I think Grace and I call it a night as well." Rachel said and Danny stood up and went over and picked Grace up.

"Probably best we all call it a night." Danny said, his eyes purposely avoiding both Emma and Matt's. The group all said their goodbye's and Matt returned to his hotel room whilst the others began to make their way out of the hotel towards the front of the hotel to where the valet's were.

"Here let me take Oz." Steve said to Emma, motioning for her to pass him her sleeping son and as Emma opened her mouth to argue Steve used that moment to take the sleeping child. "

"Thank you." Emma stated as they waited and the four of them shortly split up as Rachel's car came first and so she and Grace quickly left. "Are you two okay? You both have been really quiet since you came back from wherever it was you disappeared to."

"We're fine Em, it's just been a really long day that's all." Danny assured her but the look Steve saw Emma give him said that she didn't believe him in the slightest. She knew that they were lying but they didn't know they were doing it to protect her.

"Danny you don't too good, I think you should stay over at mine tonight." Emma stated

"Em I love you for worrying but I'm fine, I just need to go home and get some sleep." Danny told her as the valet appeared with her car and Steve helped her put Harry into his car seat and then him and Danny watched as she drove away.

"I hate lying to her." Danny admitted a few minutes later as the two of them had yet to say anything.

"So do I Danno but we're doing it to protect her." Steve wearily replied, he didn't like this any better than Danny but Emma was in a good place and happy, she deserved to be happy after everything she had gone through and the last thing Steve wanted to see was that smile of hers to be disappear and be replaced with tears.


	12. Chapter 12

"Can you tell her? I-I don't think I can be the one to tell her."

Steve looked at his partner who was struggling to contain himself, not that Steve could blame Danny after all; his brother had just fled the country to avoid being arrested by the FBI. Turns Matt had stolen money from his investors and came to Hawaii to help launder money out of the country for the Columbians. Now Steve and Danny stood outside Emma's front door late at night waiting for her to open the door, Danny wanted her to hear what happened from and not from the FBI and the police when they came knocking on the door. "Yeah, sure thing buddy."

"Hey, what are you guys going here so late?" Emma asked when she opened the door and motioned for the two of them to come in, Danny and Steve made their way inside and after Emma shut the door the three of them made their way to the living room. "So what's going on?"

"Emma we need to talk." Steve began.

"Okay then. Go ahead I'm all ears." Emma replied with a smile, she had no idea what was going on but judging how late it was and the fact that her brother was here with Steve, they probably needed her help with something.

Danny swallowed loudly before speaking. "It's about Matty."

Emma stood there as Steve recounted everything that had happened within the last twenty four hours with Matt and at the start she laughed it off in disbelief until Danny finally spoke up and confirmed everything and the look on his sister's face just killed him. She looked absolutely grief stricken and shocked to the core and she slowly began shaking her head as tears threatened to fall and Steve made his way over to her but Emma refused to let him near. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" She angrily demanded.

Danny sighed. "It was complicated, after everything that's happened to you I didn't want to bother you and I was taking care of it."

"Taking care of it? Matt's fled the country and considering how much money he stole he's probably on his way to the Maldives or some god knows place where if he is found he can't extradited back here. I don't see that as taking care of it! Jesus Danny! I'm not a child anymore and I certainly don't need you to protect me from things like this! I didn't go to law school for no reason, I could have figured everything it out… some kind of plan or strategy where Matty didn't serve much time." Emma yelled.

"You don't think I don't know that Em?" Danny shouted back. "When I realized that Matt was way over his head, I was going to bring him to you so the two of us could hand him but he ran before I could!"

"Momma, Danno?"

"Harry…" Turning her head Emma saw Oz in the doorway of the living room wiping his eyes in a tired fashion with one hand and his teddy bear in his free hand, her and Danny must have woken him up with all their yelling and she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Immediately Steve pulled Emma into his arms and this time she didn't fight him whilst Danny went over to his nephew and scooped him up into his arms "Uncle Danno, did I upset momma?" Harry asked.

Danny's heart constricted, he should have shot his brother when he had the chance as their sister was crying and in that bad place that he wanted to avoid and his four year old nephew thought it was his fault. "No, of course it's not your fault Oz… your mom's upset because I yelled at her but she's going to be fine so I'm going to take you back to your room and read you a book." Danny said stretching the truth ever so slightly before he left the room with his nephew.

"I-I can't believe this is happening to me, first I lose my husband then my best friend and now my brother, the men in my life just seem to keep disappearing one right after the other. I wonder whose next? Danny? My father? My son? Cousin Jimmy?" Emma said as she stepped back and took a deep breath.

"Hey, listen to me… none of that is your fault, George and Olly's deaths were not your fault and Matt chose to steal that money and flee the country. None of that is on you Emma, it's all on him." Steve said as he took a step towards Emma and used his thumbs to gently wipe away her tears, he could not believe that her and Danny were blaming themselves for this when it wasn't there fault in any shape or form.

"But I lived with him for two years Steve, I spend my days prosecuting criminals and I fail to recognize that my brother, who I live with is one. The feds are going to come knocking on my door first, thinking that I was involved with this and I helped Matty to escape…"

"And we will deal with them, you did nothing wrong Emma and they will see that." Steve assured her.

"How am I going to tell Harry? You saw him at dinner yesterday he idolizes Matt and he's been looking forward to having Matt take him to preschool, this is going to break his little heart when I tell him. How do I tell him for the second time within six months that he'll never see another one of his uncles again? Not to mention Jenny and my parents…"

Steve wasn't sure what he could say, this thing with her brother was threatening to tear apart her entire family and it was obvious by the way that Emma and Danny were handling the news that the rest of the Williams family were going to have some difficultly coming terms with it. "I don't know but I will be here for you, Harry, Danno and Grace throughout all of this."

Emma sighed and closed her eyes and Steve leaned his head against hers, "What if I can't?"

"I won't let that happen."


	13. Chapter 13

Steve walked down the halls prosecutors' office until he reached the office door labeled with the name Emma Williams. Looking through the glass door, Steve saw Emma sitting in her office either and it looked like she was talking to herself and Steve watched her through he door until she looked up, spotted him and motioned for him to come in with a smile on her face. As Steve walked in he heard the voice of Bob Dylan singing quietly in the background and realized Emma hadn't been talking to herself. "Bob Dylan?"

"Just can't help but sing along with it, but never mind that Lt. Commander McGarrett, what a lovely surprise it is to see you here so what can I do for you today? Emma asked as she stood up and turned off the music that she was listening to.

"Um… nothing much I was in the building and so figured I'd stop by and say hi." Steve began and he could tell that Emma didn't believe him despite this being the truth as she narrowed her eyes at him. "And before you ask Danny didn't ask me to check in on you."

"Sorry, it's just Danny is convinced I'm repressing my feelings and that everything's eventually going to come out and I'm going to have a mental breakdown, which isn't too hard to understand after the horrendously long interview I had with the FBI, the day after Matt off. But like I told Danny I'm not going to let what Matt ruin what I have here, Hawaii's been good to me and Harry and I intend to keep it that way…" Emma noted.

"How's Oz?"

"Good, he asks about Matt a little less everyday so I suppose it's something, he doesn't really understand what's going on. It's hard to believe that it's only been four days it feels more like four years."

"What about you?"

"Not too good if I'm being honest, dealing with the feds for these last few days were one thing but then it hit me. I will never see Matt again, I will never hear from my brother again and even if I do as an office of the court I will have to report any contact Matt makes to the feds. I still don't get how Matt decided to do this, I don't understand why he didn't come to us. Danny is a cop and I'm a prosecutor…"

"Maybe that's why, he might have been scared of disappointing you both." Steve offered and Emma couldn't help but see his point but it didn't matter as Matt was gone, never to be seen again.

"Well it doesn't matter anymore."

"You seem rather positive, I thought I'd have to give you another pep talk." Steve admitted as he mind drifted back to the night when he told Emma the truth about Matt and how upset she was, blaming herself for what happened.

"Your first one did the trick and it made me realize that my world has fallen apart before and I've always managed to pick myself up and recover, from things worse than my brother going on the run, so here I am with a smile on my face and like I told you a while ago it's hard to be sad when you have a four year old son." Emma said as she took a couple of step towards Steve. "So I just want to say thank you for everything."

"Emma you really don't have to thank me." Steve said and it just caused Emma to laugh and Steve couldn't help but laugh too, Emma's laugh was infectious and despite only knowing her for a few months there was something about her that made Steve want to be around her.

"Yeah I do. Not only have you been a good friend to Danny although my brother won't admit to it at the best of times but you've been a good friend to me… You know the first time I saw you Steve, you were completely different from what I had imagined. Danny had told me a lot about you and I was expecting a stiff yet crazed navy seal with a buzz cut and no sense of humour and suffering from some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder."

"Really? Is that so…" Steve questioned in amusement, Danny had clearly been Emma some deranged stories about him before she came to Hawaii. "Stiff with no sense of humour, huh?

"But then I met you and I found that you weren't what I was expecting, there was no buzz cut and you are slightly crazy and you really like kicking down doors but in a good way not to mention your kind, funny and the two of us do share pastime of winding Danny up."

Steve watched as Emma's dark brown eyes lit up with laughter and before knew what he was doing he took a step towards her and he placed one hand at the nape of her neck and leaned down and kissed her. It was slow and lingering kiss to begin with to be gentle with her because judging by how her body reacted Steve knew she hadn't been expecting it but Emma seemed to be growing more comfortable by the second. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt–" A woman's voice began, which caused Emma and Steve to spring apart.

Emma didn't seem fazed by it that her eyes didn't even leave Steve's while she addressed the woman who had just waltzed into her office and caught them. "Hello Cecile."

"I'm impressed Deputy Prosecutor, he's handsome." The woman who Emma had just addressed as Cecile said as she gave Steve the once over much to his confusion and Emma's amusement as she finally turned to face Cecile.

"I know he is, but I know that's not why you're here so how can I help you today Councilor?"" Emma said as she cocked an eyebrow and Steve wasn't sure what to do as the two women were talking about his as if he wasn't there. No way he could leave as not only was Emma blocking his path but so was Cecile.

"I just thought I'd stop by for a chat before I gave you something but as your clearly busy I'll just hand this over and be on my way, we can meet up sometime during the week and you can fill me in later." Cecile said as she went into her bag and handed Emma a folded piece of paper.

"Motion to suppress blood evidence? Are you kidding me Cecile? We both know that this is a bunch of rubbish." Emma said with an arrogant scoff and Steve couldn't help but smile, it was nice to see her at work and in her element.

"That's for the judge to decide."

"This is just wasting everyone's time, the blood evidence not only links your client to the murder but it proves he was there. The judge is going to side with the people on this one but if you insist I'll be there…" Emma quipped.

"I do insist and once this case is over, we must have lunch at the country club again before we go to war again." Cecile said with a laugh as she made her way out of the door. "I'll see you later my dear…"

Emma laughed as she made her way back over to her desk. "Sorry about that Cecile is not for subtlety I'm afraid although she is very entertaining if I do say so myself and she knows how to bury the people in paperwork…"

"Your friends with a defense attorney and your currently both working against each other on a case?" Steve questioned very slowly.

"Tends to happen frequently and defense lawyers need friends too Steve, I know most of the time their defending murders and other criminals but occasionally there is the innocent person and most of them are in it for the money but there are rare things as good defense lawyers and Cecile is one of them." Emma began before stopping and the two of them just stood there.

"I should probably leave and let you get back work." Steve stated and Emma just nodded her head and Steve made his way out of her office before stopping and turning back. "Emma, what would you say if I asked you if you wanted to have dinner with me?"

Emma slowly smiled and took a moment before she finally answered. "I'd have to say yes."

"I'll call you then."

"Sounds good.


	14. Chapter 14

"How do you collect butterflies in New Jersey, are there even butterflies there?" Steve questioned in bemusement as he sat across a table from Emma in an outdoor restaurant. They had decided to go out for dinner as to avoid any interruptions and being discovered by Danny who had a habit of just walking into Steve's home and a key to Emma's house. Last thing either of them wanted was for Danny to find out about any of this because according to Emma his head would literally explode at the news, which Steve knew considering Danny had told him that his sister was off limits.

"New Jersey may not be Hawaii but it's not as bad as you think it is Steve it's a pretty great place and for one thing I'm from there and yes there are butterflies but I didn't capture them and then mount them. I just brought ones that had been preserved…" Emma quipped in bemusement.

"You have a point… So we have swimming and butterfly collecting, what else can tell me about yourself." Steve began

"Between being a fulltime mommy and a lawyer there's not much time to be just Emma, so there's not much to say I'm afraid. I'm just a small girl from New Jersey whose grown up to be a lawyer and mother in Hawaii." Emma said with a small shrug of her shoulders as she took a sip of wine

"I know there's more to you than that Emma so what about this photography thing? Danny mentioned that you would have been a great photographer if you hadn't decided to go into law."

Emma blushed and briefly looked down at her hands. "Danny told you that? I wouldn't be so sure of that, I kind of fell into when I started high school. I wasn't popular like Danny and Matt, I was quiet and incredibly shy…"

"I find that very hard to believe." Steve questioned skeptically, there was no way the confident and beautiful women sitting across from him was shy as a teenager. Emma was a Williams and based on what he had seen from her, Matt and Danny none of them knew the meaning of the word shy. They all had larger than life personalities and weren't known for being quiet.

"Trust me I was, at home I was fine and could be as loud as I wanted but at school I was so self conscious that I avoided having any attention on me like the plague. It wasn't until I started college that I really came out of my shell. Any way I joined the school newspaper and they put me on photos and from there I fell in love photography. It allowed me to show people how I saw the world from my eyes, if that makes any sense…" Emma replied as she fiddled with her hands. "But it was never going to be a career for me, by my junior year I knew I wanted to be a lawyer…"

"So why law then?"

"Well when I was sixteen I was in a serious car accident–"

"Danny told me about that, you were with your best friend Olly and his car was hit by a drunk driver and you were trapped, right? They had to get you out with the Jaws of Life…" Steve recalled.

Emma smirked, Steve had certainly done his homework on her or rather Danny was unknowingly telling him everything about her. If made her wonder what Steve didn't know about her life. "Correct, the driver had smashed into my side of the car and my legs had been pinned by the wreck, my arm and several of my ribs had been broken. I thought I was going to die, Olly was trying to keep me calm whilst not freaking out himself, then my dad arrived as his firehouse arrived as they had got the call. But a few days later a attorney from the prosecutor's office came to see me, her name was Katie Rice. She told me she was going to be prosecuting the man who had put me in the hospital, turns out this guy Gary Collins had been arrested for driving under the influence and various other related crimes before but had gotten off due to technicalities. She told me that she wasn't going to let him get away with this because he was eventually going to kill someone if no one did anything to stop him."

"And did she?" Steve questioned, he didn't know that the accident had been that serious, the way Danny had mentioned made it sound like it was no big deal but then again fifteen years had passed by since then/

Emma smiled enthusiastically "Yep, he was found guilty and charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and two counts of reckless endangerment. Ended up having to serve ten years, she was amazing Steve, Katie went above and beyond for me and she is the reason that I decided to go into law. She helped me study for my LSAT exam and when I got my acceptance letter to Harvard she was the first person I told."

"She inspired you to become a lawyer and here you are now, small time girl from the big bad New Jersey serving the great state of Hawaii." Steve said giving Emma a mock round of applause, which just caused her to blush again.

"What about you? It's been months and you still haven't answered my question of how a navy seal ends up heading a taskforce, which I've been told had complete means and immunity not to mentions answers only to the governor and being the partner of my cranky brother? Spill it McGarrett I want to know it all starting from why you decided to enlist in the navy."

"That's a long story."

"It's not like I'm planning on going anywhere anytime soon." Emma replied leaning closer.

"Well my grandfather served and was a casualty on the USS Arizona and my father served in Vietnam, so serving my country has always been in my blood. After my mother died and my dad sent Mary and I back to the mainland I joined the navy straight after I graduated from high school…" Steve stated before he noticed Emma was trying to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing it's that you said that your family has a history of serving and so it made me realize that you were actually a little pac man in cargo pants, which explains a lot…" Emma said biting her lip in amusement.

"What's that supposed to mean? And what's with you and Danny and this whole pac man thing?" Steve questioned as the Williams siblings had developed this weird habit of regularly calling each other and people by odd names. Steve was the little Pac Man in cargo shorts, Harry was Oz, Danny was Danno/Cranky Pants and Emma was Shark.

"Never mind, just ignore me continue with your story." Emma replied with a small shake of her head before covering her mouth as she irrupted into a fit of laughter.

"Is this some secret New Jersey thing that I don't know about?"

"Yeah that's it." Emma replied in a sarcastic manner that closely resembled Danny. "So back to the story, you joined the navy after you graduated high school which by my calculations is fifteen years ago doing things you probably can't tell me but then you came back to Hawaii–"

"After my father was killed–"

"Sorry."

"Thanks."

"And sorry for interrupting yet again, my mother did teach me not to interrupt people when they are speaking but it's a really bad habit I've picked up on the job. From when I'm in court arguing and objecting all day long for weeks on end So I'm going to sit here and let you speak and try my hardest not to interrupt again." Emma said with a smile before taking a sip of her wine.

Steve didn't mind in the slightest. "I came back to Hawaii with the intent of burying my father and leaving as I hadn't come back once since I left, when I arrived the governor was waiting for me and she offered me the chance to run a task force to clean up the island and I refused. All I wanted to do was bury my father and be gone but then when I went home I came across your lovely brother who started lecturing me about my house was an active crime scene. So I put a call into the governor accepted the job and made your brother my partner and the rest I think you know."

"Yes I do, Danny called me that evening to complain about the head case who had just taken over his case, got him shot out of a window and then drove him car whilst he was in it onto a Chinese freight boat. If you hadn't of guessed he wasn't that much of happy camper that day…"

"Yeah, I kind of got off on the wrong foot with him." Steve noted.

"Doesn't even have a right one to begin with." Emma quietly noted to herself in amusement as Steve's phone went off from inside his jacket pocket and he looked at Emma before reaching into get it.

"It's the governor, I'm guessing a rain check on dinner?" Steve slowly said not sure what to expect from Emma, he had asked her out for dinner and now he was probably going to leave as he doubted the governor was calling him this late in the evening just to chat. This wasn't exactly how he saw this night going in his head.

"I guess so.

"I'll make this up to you Em." Steve said as he stood up from his seat and walked over to where Emma was still sitting with an amused look on her face.

Emma smiled as she titled her head up so she could looks at Steve better, he seemed even taller than he normally was from her current advantage point. "I'd expect nothing less from you Steven so go, I'll take care of the bill and you can go play Five-0 and catch some criminals that I can prosecute."

"I'm sorry about this and f I hadn't said this already tonight, you look beautiful." Steve told Emma before proceeding to give her a fleeting kiss and then picking up his phone as he left the restaurant.


	15. Chapter 15

Emma stepped out of her car and made her way over to the front the normal looking suburban house, which she had been summoned to and made her way over to the front porch where Steve, Chin Ho and Danny were all standing there like a bunch of lemmings. "Thanks for coming so quickly, I appreciate it Em." Danny told her.

"No problem Danny, but what exactly am I doing here? You were very vague and cryptic over the phone and you have never called me and asked for my help once since I've moved here. So what's going on and why do you need my help?" Emma asked looking around, clearly something had gone on if Five-0 were investigating but Emma didn't see how that involved her.

Danny looked at Steve and Chin Ho before turning to his sister. "We investigating the death of a Robert Nozuka, he was found dead two hours ago half buried on the beach. From the looks of the crime scene it seems personal and we tried to speak to his widow but she's in shock and won't talk to any of us…"

"And you would like me to speak to her, from one widow to another..." Emma guessed and the looks on all three men's faces told her everything that she needed to know. She wasn't sure whether she was annoyed that Danny and Steve were exploiting her status as a widow for their own gain, as Emma perfectly knew what Mrs. Nozuka was going through as when George died she didn't speak to anyone except harry for two whole days once she had received George's death notification.

"Yeah, it would really help us Emma to see if she knew anything." Steve said.

Emma let out a weary smile, god she hated the word widow and she knew that this was going to be hard. "Sure thing, what's his wife's name?"

"Sula." Chin Ho replies.

There was something the three men weren't telling her and it was obvious to Emma that her brother was the reason behind this. "Danny whatever it is you need to tell me, I'm not stepping one foot in that house unless I know everything…" Emma said.

"They have two young children; a five year old daughter and a two year old son." Danny told her and Emma nodded and as she made her way towards the door she felt a hand on her arm and turning around she saw that it was Danny. "Em, you sure about this? You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'll be fine Danny, I can do this." Emma said placing her hand over her brothers and smiling, it was sweet that he still worried about her and after a few moments she let go and they all walked into the house. The house was silent, there was no sound that showed anybody had lived there but there were hundreds of pictures to disprove that. Making her way into the living room Emma spotted Robert Nozuka's wife Sula sitting on a chair staring into nowhere, taking a moment to herself Emma took a deep breath before walking over to where Sula sat. "Mrs. Nozuka? My name is Emma Williams and I'm a deputy prosecutor, I was hoping that I could speak with you." Emma slowly said.

"I-I don't want to talk…" Sula began.

"I know you don't, talking is the last thing that you want to do and I know you want to be left alone, I understand that." Emma replied.

"You have no idea how I feel!" Sula shrieked.

Emma wasn't fazed and she sat down in the seat opposite Mrs. Nozuka. "I do Mrs. Nozuka, I understand the pain you are feeling, I lost my husband almost three years ago this coming June 20th.

That was the last thing that Sula Nozuka was expecting to hear and she looked up at Emma slowly. "What happened?"

"He was a soldier in the army and he was killed in Afghanistan, the details are sketchy but what I do know is that he saved another member of his unit before he was shot." Emma began with a deep sigh, this was going to be hard not to mention emotional. "I remember when I got the notification I was playing with our son when the door went, I was expecting a package so I thought it was the UPS man so I put Harry in his play pen and I went to open the door. But then I saw them and my hand froze on the door; the casualty notification office and the chaplain and I just knew. Something was wrong…" Emma said as the memory of her slowly opening the door of her house in D.C. came back to her as if it happened yesterday.

"They told you –"

"Not straight away, they asked if they could come in and once they did they asked me if was Emma Williams before moving on to questions about my husband such as was I married to Captain George Oswald, to which I said yes I was. Then they finally told me, just like what's happened to you, two people came in and completely destroyed my whole world with one sentence. " Emma said with a shake of her head, she tried not to think about this day much as it was too painful for her. "Standard procedure meant that they couldn't leave me unless someone was with me so I had them call my best friend who came over straight away. After they left I just sat there trying to piece everything together, I couldn't believe that my George was dead because he wouldn't leave us, he loved his family. I was hoping for a phone call… anything to tell me that they had gotten it wrong and that it was another George Oswald. I was completely numb, I didn't do anything for two days, I just sat in my living room while my best friend took care of Harry I just pretended everything was fine."

"When did you?" Sula asked.

Emma had to think about that one, her memories of that weekend were all over the place. "It was Sunday, two days after I had gotten to the news and I had just put Harry down for a nap and I was doing some general tidying up. My best friend Olivier was sleeping and I went into the living room and I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"On one of the walls we had a make shift calendar using sticky notes to show the amount of days there were until George came home. Every morning I take Harry over to it and he'd pull the current number off. Next to it was a list of tasks George had to do when he came home, he'd force me to do it telling me after serving on the front line he was looking forward to fixing the squeaky floor board or putting up some new shelves." Emma said as she briefly paused, the memories of everything started to overcome her and she tried to stop herself from crying. "I was looking at it and then it hit me that George wasn't coming home, he wouldn't do any of those things because he was dead. So I finally did what I should have done two days before hand. I called my mom and the moment I heard her voice I just started crying uncontrollably down the phone, she couldn't understand what I was trying to tell her so she gave the phone to my dad and I was sobbing down the phone to him. Then I remember everything went quiet and I heard my dad say to my mom 'George is dead.' "

Sula slowly nodded her head in understanding. "What happened after?"

"I'm not really sure everything's a bit hazy but I remember my best friend talking the phone from me and I could hear him talking to my dad and the next thing I knew all my family was at my house." Emma said sniffling, god she had become a wreck despite her hardest not to and what was worse was that Steve and Chin Ho were seeing it. Danny had seen Emma cry plenty of times so she didn't give a hoot but crying in front of other's i.e. Steve again was not something that liked.

"I-I can't believe this is happening." Sula said as she started crying again.

"I know you don't and this is going to be hard on you and your children but you see the guy with the blonde hair and the tie?" Emma asked pointing to Danny, who was still standing with Steve and Chin Ho and Sula nodded. "Well that's my big brother and I promise you that he will find whoever is responsible for this and the prosecutor's office will put them away. If I have to work day and night I will do this for you Sula. I will do this for you and your kids but I need you to answer their questions, you may something that could help them find whose responsible, do you think you could do that for me? "

Sula slowly nodded her head. "I-I think so."

Squeezing Sula's hand, Emma got up and made her way back over to the three men and Danny gave her a sad smile. "Em…"

"Never ask me to do that again Daniel." Emma coldly stated before proceeding to walk out of the house and wiping her eyes, no doubt her make up was smudge and she was emotional now and all she wanted to do was pick up Harry, go home and sit in her bed eating ice cream and watching movies.

"Emma."

Damn. The last person Emma wanted to talk to right now was Steve McGarrett as he had seen her cry twice this past month already once over her brother, the second time over her dead husband two days after they had gone on a date. Emma had no idea where they stood at the moment but even she knew that this wasn't good at all. "Sorry for getting emotional about this, it was a long time ago and I don't know why…" Emma began but stopped when she felt herself being turned around against her will and facing Steve who was looking at her with those blue eyes of his.

"You never have to apologize for that, he was your husband and you loved him very much." Steve assured her and Emma was pretty certain she was going to start crying again. Goddamn Steve McGarrett, Emma was going to fall in love with him, if he kept carrying on like this…


	16. Chapter 16

Emma was surprised to find one Steve McGarret standing on her doorstep at nine in the evening with his arm in a sling and a rather odd look yet bemused on his face. "Steve what the hell happened to you arm and your face?" Emma asked as tilted Steve's face to the side so she could survey the damage.

"Danno and I went for a hike and we stumbling across a dead body, fell off a small cliff ended up shattering my forearm but it's no big deal." Steve replied and Emma wasn't sure what to say about this, falling off a cliff was pretty big deal to most people but not the navy seal. "But that's now why I'm here, I wanted to talk to you about why you've been avoiding me Emma."

"I haven't been avoiding you." Emma said as she motioned for Steve to come inside the house.

"Really? We had dinner three nights ago and you seemed kind of distant and since then you haven't answered any of my calls or returned my messages, I'd call that avoiding someone."

"I've been prepping for this huge case that goes to trail next week Steve I've barely spoken to anyone and now Harry is sick so I've been here all day taking care of him for the past two day, I'm not avoiding you Steve, I've been taking care of my sick child that's all…" Emma replied and okay so it was a bit of a lie, she had been avoiding Steve because she still felt weird about the whole crying about George thing but that was at the beginning of the week and Harry was honestly sick.

"Oh, what's wrong with him?"

"Ear infection and it's driving him crazy, he's got a fever, headache, trouble hearing and sleeping so he's cranky, he's in pain and he doesn't know why, it's the last thing that I needed at the moment but that's the thing about children getting sick, very inconvenient and comes when you least suspect it so I'm kind of pulling double duty."

"Danny didn't mention anything about Oz bring sick, have you told him?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah about that we haven't spoken to each other since the beginning of the week and it's f for the best really, I kind of lost my temper with him that morning for him asking me to do something that he really shouldn't have but don't worry we'll talking again by the end of the week. We can never stay to mad with each other…"

"You shouldn't have to be doing this alone Emma, Harry's sick and on top of that you've got work stuff to deal with. I think you should call Danny and ask for his help, after all that is why you moved to Hawaii."

Emma shrugged her shoulders "Steve it's sweet of you to worry about the two of us but I am a working parent, it's never going to be easy and I moved to Hawaii for a fresh start not to have my big brother take care of me. These next few days are going to be stressful seeing as Harry isn't sleeping through the night but that little boy upstairs is my pride and joy so if staying up all night to take care of him means he'll get better and back to his happy, healthy and cheerful self than so be it."

"You're a good mom." Steve noted.

Emma wearily smiled. "I try to be."

"About what happened at the beginning of the week, it was a lot to ask for you to do and we shouldn't have asked you, I was as much as to blame as Danny for it…" Steve began until he was interrupted by the sound of quiet sobs and he turned around to see Oz standing there in his pyjamas tugging on his left ear, holding his teddy bear in his right hand and crying his little eyes out.

"Momma… hurts." The small boy whimpered.

"Hey buddy, I know your not feeling too good but look whose come to see you it's Steve." Emma said with a bright smile as she made her way over to her son and picked him up and Harry tucked his head into Emma's shoulders and after a brief moment Emma pulled his away and put her hand on his forehead. "Steve…"

"Emma, what is it?"

"He's burning up again… upstairs in Harry's room on the chest of drawers there's an ear thermometer, can you get it for me?" Emma asked trying to keep her voice at a normal even level as not to worry.

"Momma… don't feel well…" Harry hiccupped as he continued to pull on his ear and Emma kissed the top of his head in an attempt to make him feel better.

"I know you don't buddy but everything's going to be fine, mommy will make everything better like she always does so just hold on, were just waiting for Steve to come back and then once I know what's wrong I can make it all better." Emma said reassuringly to Harry and moments later Steve returned with thermometer than she had requested. Taking a deep breath Emma put the thermometer in Harry's ear for thirty seconds before taking it out and waiting for the reason. "Oh god…"

Judging by the horrified look on Emma's face Steve knew that there was something seriously wrong. "What is it Emma?"

"105°F, it was down to 101 a couple of hours ago and now it's spiked again, I need to take him to a hospital Steve. It's been 48 hours and he's not getting better…" Emma replied as she went around grabbing her bag, keys and phone all whilst holding Harry in her arms.

"Okay we'll take my car…" Steve replied as helped Emma head towards and pick up Harry's teddy bear who he had just dropped.

"Steve are you sure you can drive with your arm like that?" Emma questioned and already Steve was removing the sling of his neck.

"Don't worry about me, I'll get us there just focus on Oz…"


	17. Chapter 17

"Are you sure that you don't want me to call anyone else? Like your parents?" Steve asked as he sat with Emma in the waiting area of the emergency room, they had been sitting there for over forty-five minutes whilst the doctors were working on Harry. They hadn't been told anything; only that someone would come and talk to them when they had any news to tell them. Emma had gotten him to call Danny a few minutes ago and he was now on his way to the hospital but wouldn't be here for at least ten minutes.

"If I call my mom and tell her what's going on she'll jump on a plane to Hawaii right away, I'd rather not be worrying about that instead of focusing on Harry. I call her once we know something…" Emma replied with a shake of her head and Steve took her hand and squeezed it.

"He'll be okay Em."

"I took Harry to the doctors when this first started and he said that it was just an ear infection and it would clear up between two and three days and now look at him. He has never been this sick in his life before Steve, there is something really wrong and I can't do anything about it, I can't even be with Harry to comfort him. He must be scared out of his mind." Emma wearily replied as she leaned her head against Steve's shoulder.

"I know you're scared but Oz is going to be okay and you want to know how know that? It's because he's your son and he takes after his mother very much so in terms of how strong he is not to mention he's a Williams and there's no way he'd let a ear infection get in his way; he's too stubborn to let something like that bring him down." Steve said in an attempt to cheer up Emma and it seemed to work as she let out a quiet laugh.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Dragging you into all of my personal crap and then avoiding you for the last couple of days despite the fact that I told you over an hour ago that I wasn't." Emma admitted and Steve tried his best not to say I told you so, he knew she had been lying about the whole avoiding him thing but now wasn't really the time and place for him to gloat about it. "Maybe you should leave…"

"What are you talking about Emma? Why do you want me to leave?" Steve questioned as he turned his head so he could look at Emma properly.

"Steve, this thing whatever it is between us… maybe you should get out while you have the chance to because my life isn't easy or calm. It's complicated and ever since I've met you my issues have coming out and getting dumped on you. Like the dead best friend, criminal brother, deceased husband, Danny, the brother who I cannot go twenty minutes without getting into some kind of argument or disagreement of some sorts and now my sick child. It isn't fair on you and I think it's best we went our separate ways..." Emma reasoned as she let go of Steve's hand and stood up, taking several deep breaths as she gently tapped her foot against the floor.

Getting up Steve made his was over to Emma and made her look at him. "I'm not going anywhere, nothing you can say is going to get me to leave Emma. I get that you have been through more hardships then any person should have to go through but that is part of the reason why I'm here because no matter what the world throws at you Emma, you manage to pick yourself up and carry on. Your strength and courage is part of the reason I like you so much. You have baggage and so do I but that doesn't change how I feel about you. I'm staying right here."

"Don't say I didn't warn you McGarrett." Emma warned and Steve just pulled her towards him and the two of them just there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until there was a cough from behind them.

"Ms. Williams?"

Emma turned around to see the doctor who had been working on Harry standing there waiting. "How he is? How's Harry? Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Your son still has a fever and we've started to run some tests to try and determine what's causing these symptoms, now it might be just be the ear infection and it's become more serious from when your son's pediatrician first diagnosed it or it could be something more serious like meningitis."

"Meningitis? You think Harry may have meningitis, of my god…" Emma began and Steve placed a hand on her shoulder to help calm and steady her. "I-I don't understand, how is that even possible? He has an ear infection."

"Meningitis can start as a complication of another illness, such as a sinus or ear infection, which is why I'd like your permission to do a lumbar puncture procedure Ms. Williams to determine along with the other tests results whether or not Harry does have meningitis " The doctor said.

"What does this procedure involve you doing?" Steve questioned, this was serious and Harry could be really sick and Emma was just radiating with anxiety and worry for her only child. Even Steve was worried about this and the procedure that the doctor wanted to do sounded like it was quite serious especially if it was going to be done on a child.

"A lumbar puncture, is a spinal tap and it's a procedure that involves collecting a small sample of cerebrospinal fluid, we'll use the fluid sample to find the causes of a possible infections in your sons case meningitis. The procedure won't take long, only about half an hour and during that time will carefully inserts a thin hollow needle between the bones of the lower spine to withdraw the fluid sample for testing."

"I assume there are risks." Emma stated as she placed her hand over the hand that Steve had on her shoulder and squeezed it as hard as she possibly could. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her.

"A lumbar puncture is considered a safe procedure with minimal, if any, risks and most of the time there are no complications. But in rare instances there can be bleeding and infection."

Emma slowly nodded her head and took several deep breaths, this was a big decision and she wished somebody else could make it for her but she was Harry's mom and needed to make this decision now. "If I give consent for you to do this procedure, can I be with him when you do it? Because the idea of him being alone when you stick a needle in his spine just terrifies the hell out of me."

"Of course you can."

"Will you wait here for Danny and fill him in on what's going on? Make sure he does not call my parents… I'll come back as soon as the procedure is done to let you know how it went, I just don't want Harry to be alone through something like this." Emma questioned as she turned around to face Steve.

"Yeah of course, don't worry about any of that just go be with Oz and I'll take care of Danny. We'll be right here waiting for the two of you." Steve assured Emma as best he could and she gave him a watery smile before following the doctor away from the waiting area and into the E.R.


	18. Chapter 18

Steve continued to sit in the waiting room twenty minutes had passed since Emma had gone to be with Harry while the doctors were working on him. It had been a long day for Steve but all he could think about was Emma and Oz. The two of them really deserved a break for once and some actual happiness without something threatening to crush their spirits yet again. As Steve sat there he noticed one Danny Williams come running into the ER like a headless chicken until he finally spotted Steve and made his way over to him. "Danny…" Steve began.

"What's happening? Where's Emma? How's Harry?" Danny immediately demanded and the worry was obvious on his face, despite the fact that Danny argued with Emma like there was no tomorrow, it was clear that he loved his sister and nephew very much.

"Emma is with Harry, the doctor came out about ten minutes ago and she said that Harry was stable but they were running tests and they needed Emma's consent to do a procedure on Harry called a Lumbar Puncture on him–"

"–What is that? Why does he need to have that?" Danny asked.

"It's a procedure which involved getting fluid from Harry's spine, they think he might have meningitis and this test will tell them whether or not he has it." Steve slowly said and Danny immediately sunk into one of the plastic hospital seat.

"Meningitis? How is that even possible?"

"Harry's had an ear infection for the last couple of days and according to the doctor an infection like that can led to meningitis. But it could just be the ear infection getting worse and we're hoping that these test results confirm that. This procedure takes half an hour and it's already been ten minutes and Emma said she'll come out and update us once it's done." Steve assured Danny as he sat down next to him, who looked like he had just aged five years in the matter of minutes.

.

"Ear infection? What the hell is going on? I didn't even know that Harry was sick until you called to say that he was here. If he's been sick for days why am I just learning about this now? I should have been there, helping Emma to take care of him." Danny quietly asked.

"Emma didn't want to bother you, she said something about not wanting you to always have to take care of her. She didn't call you because the pediatrician told her it was a simple ear infection that would disappear after a couple of days. But it wasn't, Harry woke up and he was in a lot of pain Emma took his temperature and it was really high that's when we brought him here. We didn't realize how serious it was until the doctors mentioned this meningitis." Steve told him.

"–Wait… we? What are you talking about and why is this we thing? And why we're you at my sisters so late in the evening?" Danny questioned.

"Danny it's only half past eleven and I went over to Emma's to check up on her after the whole incident at the Nozuka house, she was pretty upset after it considering she just recounted the day she lost George to another woman who just lost her husband. I was worried about her and I hadn't been able to get in contact with her so I went over to her place. That's when she realized something was wrong with Harry and I drove the two of them here." Steve explained as he briefly shut his eyes, Danny was clearly stressed and needed to vent some of his frustrations out somewhere.

"Is there something going on with you and my sister." Danny demanded and Steve was honesty shocked at what he was hearing, that was the last thing that he was expecting Danny to come out with and it caught him off guard and considering how much of a long day he had Steve didn't respond. "There is isn't there?"

"Danno this isn't the time or the place to be having this conversation, can we just focus on the task at hand" Steve said hoping to deter Danny away from that particular conversation but he really should have known better than to believe that Danny would just drop it. His partner really couldn't leave things alone.

"To the fact that my nephew is seriously sick and could possible die? Personally i'd rather not focus on that possible scenario and focus on the fact that you're involved with my sister despite the fact that I have repeatedly told you that she is off limits to you." Danny stated.

Steve could only remember Danny explicitly saying that to him once, the other times he just warned him about getting in trouble around her but anyway that didn't even matter. It's not like Danny could him or Emma who they could or could not date. "She's a grown woman Danny."

"Who is my sister Steven!" Danny retorted.

"You're mad."

Danny looked over to his partner in disbelief. "Mad? No I'm not mad but there's a whole other bunch of words that I can use such as furious, livid, infuriated, fuming and more, plenty more."

"Look Danno, I understand that your mad and you have every reason to be mad." Steve said in an attempt to calm down his partner who seemed to get more agitated as the minutes went on, this news coupled with the fact that his nephew was sick was surely raising his partner's blood pressure and the way that it was carrying on Steve gave it only a matter of minutes before his partners head exploded.

"Well thanks you Steven, I find out that my partner has been sleeping with my sister for god knows how long and your kind enough to give me permission to be a little bit mad." Danny snapped back as quietly as he could.

"It's not like the way you're describing." Steve said as he and Emma hadn't even slept together yet and even if they had been, it wasn't like Steve was just involved with her for sex. It wasn't like that but Danny didn't seem to see it like that. He liked Emma a lot but he doubted he could convince Danny of that tonight or any other night.

"Steve this isn't just about Emma this is about Oz as well–" Danny began.

"I know that."

"Actually I don't think you do Steve, my sister and my nephew go together hand in hand. You don't have one without another and the two of them have gone through so much these last few years. My sister isn't someone who you can casually date, she is a mother with a small child who she would so anything for, that boy comes first in her life always!"

"You don't think I know that Danny? I know that the two of them have gone through so many things that they didn't deserve, I know that they have lost people they loved and cared. That's why I'm here, because I care about both of them! I care about Emma and Oz! I know how important the two of them are and the last thing I would ever want to do is make them unhappy. I know they are your family and you only want what is best for them and given everything they've gone through you just want them to be happy and their happiness is important to me too–" Steve said, stopping prematurely at the sight of Emma who was approaching the two of them with tear filled eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

Emma stood in front of Danny and Steve with a pit of emotions in her stomach and tears threatening to fall down her face. She was exhausted not to mention emotionally drained, it had been a long and stressful night which didn't seem like it was going to end anytime and all Emma wanted to do was go home, climb into her bed and sleep for at least ten hours but she couldn't. That wasn't an option for Emma at the moment and as Steve and Danny looked at her, she was trying to pull herself together. "What's going on? I heard raised voices…" Emma said as she looked between the two men.

The two men briefly looked at each other and something passed between them that was too fast for Emma to catch. "Nothing Emma, there's nothing going on we're just worried about Harry that's all." Steve replied and Danny nodded in agreement and Emma decided to not to press it as she had bigger things to worry about at the moment, then whatever was going on between Steve and her brother.

"Em, what is it? Has something happened to Harry? What's going on with this puncture test?" Danny questioned and the stress and worry was very much clear and apparent in his voice.

"N-nothing, he's okay the procedure is over… it's just watching him and they putting that needle into his spine was just really overwhelming, seeing him this sick and like this is just really hard for me…" Emma began as the tears starting rolling down her cheeks and she hastily wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm turning into such a mess and I know I should have called you earlier…"

Danny made his way over to Emma and hugged his sister. "Hey, you don't need to apologize for anything, you did nothing wrong Em, you were just doing your job as a mother… What did the doctor say? What happens now?"

"They said that the results of the test usually take a week but because they suspect it's meningitis, the doctor is order this DNA based test known as a PCR amplification. It apparently checks, for the viral causes of meningitis and we can have the results in as little as four hours. So far the other test results haven't come back with anything definitive, but this PCR test will…" Emma slowly said,

"This is good, right? We'll know something in a matter of hours and the doctors will be able treat Harry." Steve concluded, taking a deep breath once he had finished

"Yeah, it's just the waiting and not knowing that's killing me. I just want to know what's wrong with Harry so the doctors can treat him with the medicine he needs and I can take him home and look after him." Emma replied she began toying with her hands before taking a deep breath.

"Only a few more hours Em and they you can, so just hold on until then." Danny hopefully said before moving on. "How is the little guy doing? The Oz man must be terrified out his tiny little mind."

Emma let out a heartfelt sigh. "He's groggy, they gave him a mild sedative before they did the procedure and he's probably going to fall asleep soon which is good because he hasn't slept properly in days. But he's still scared and doesn't know what's going on, Oz wants to go home and lie in my bed because it has all the fluffy pillows and call mom and dad. On the upside his fever is starting to break so hopefully it's a sign that the antibiotics they've given him are working…"

"He is sick and the one thing he really wants to do is to call mom and dad? Amazing…" Danny said laughing quietly to himself. "Em, do you think it's possible to see him? I just want to see how he's doing and reassure him.

"Sure… Of course Danny, he'll be glad to see you as he's missed you these last few days, he's in the peds room at the end… you should probably take Grover with you, he refuses to sleep without him." Emma replied with a small yawn as she handed Danny the bear and he took a deep breath and smiled weakly at his sister before making his way into the ER.

Steve took a couple of steps towards Emma and using his good arm he placed his hand on Emma's shoulder and rubbed it affectionately, she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders at the moment and that wasn't including the dark crescents moons under her eyes. "You look exhausted Em, maybe you should get a couple of hours of sleep." Steve suggested.

"I can't sleep, not until I know that Harry is okay, but you should go home and get some sleep. Your hurt Steve and if you want be back on your feet, kicking down doors and doing whatever else it is you do then you have to get some rest. Don't worry about me Steve this is part of the job of being a parent, I'm used to long nights, taking care of a sick child and the incessant worrying not to mention functioning on next to little sleep. Just take care of yourself…" Emma assured Steve with a small smile, it was all she could really muster at the moment as anything else required energy that she just didn't have. She just needed to get through the next few hours and then she and hopefully Harry could go home and get some rest.

"I've told you already I'm not going anywhere Emma… How many times have I got to tell you that I don't intend to go anywhere I'm staying right here so you had better start getting used to it Williams." Steve replied as he gently nudged Emma.

Emma wasn't sure on how she should respond to this so she gave Steve a weary smile and took a moment before she finally spoke. "Then I could really do with some caffeine, be it a soda or a really crappy cup of coffee."

"I think I can do that."


	20. Chapter 20

Steve sat with Emma and Danny in the waiting room of the emergency room; they had been there for god knows many hours now, still waiting on Harry's test results. They were tired, hungry not to mention there was a lot of tension and awkwardness between him and Danny considering the whole Emma thing. But both men had silently agreed to put it to the side until this whole ordeal was over. Steve turned his attention to Emma, even with the two cups of crappy coffee, she looked exhausted but she was adamant that she would not sleep until she knew her son was okay. Steve just couldn't help but be amazed by her. "Ms. Williams…?"

All three adults head snapped in attention at the doctor was standing in front of them with a unreadable look on her face. Giving no indication of why they were her and what news that they could probably have. All three of them stood up but Emma was the only one who took a few steps towards the doctor. "What is it? Do you have the results of the test?"

"I do." The doctor began and Emily wearily glanced back at Steve and Danny before looking back at the doctor. "The tests was clear, there is nothing seriously wrong with Harry. No meningitis, just an ear infection that needs to be treated with different medication."

"H-he's going to be okay?" Emma tearily asked and it was clear that she didn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes he is, you can even take him home now." The doctor said and gave Emma a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before heading back into the E.R.

Slowly turning around Emma looked at Danny and Steve with tear filled eyes and to Steve it seemed like this whole ordeal was hitting her like a tonne of bricks. "Did you hear that? H-he's going to be okay…" Emma stated and it seemed like she was going to burst into tears when Danny pulled her into a tight hug. Steve watched the two of them, as Danny comforted his sister. But what really surprised was after Emma let go of Danny and hugged him; she headed back into the E.R leaving the two men alone once more.

"Thank you." Danny said holding his hand out.

Steve took Danny's hand and both men shook on it. "No problem Danno."

Twenty minutes later Emma carried a sleeping Harry and his bear to Steve's truck, where she insisted on driving, so Steve ended up having the sleeping boy nestled in his lap whilst Emma drove them to her house. Despite his protests Emma was having none of it, claiming that after everything he had done for her and Harry the least she could do was take care of him. When they arrived at Emma's house, they ended up going upstairs to her bedroom where she placed Harry in the middle of the bed before climbing onto the rest side of the bed. "C'mon Steve, there is plenty of space…" Emma said.

"It's fine, I can go crash in one of the spare rooms." Steve said.

Despite the late hour and how tired she seemed Emma laughed and motioned for Steve to take the other side. "Your not going anywhere Steve, you are staying right here where I can keep an eye on you so hurry up and lie down!"

Knowing that it was better to agree with Emma, Steve undid his boots and lay down on the left side of the bed but his eyes quickly caught the attention of a photograph of the bedside table. It was a black and white close up photograph of Emma and a baby – no doubt Harry, "This is a beautiful picture." he told Emma.

"I think that was taken a couple of hours after Harry was born, I'm not really sure. Things were hazy for a while and I was exhausted for quite a while, before and after I had given birth." Emma quietly noted.

"Difficult pregnancy?" Steve said.

"It was mostly an easy pregnancy, morning sickness lasted until a couple of weeks into my second trimester and I didn't get any weird cravings but I did have Braxton hicks and Harry was in breech for a while and there was talk of a c-section but thankfully baby boy finally turned and I went through a very long and natural labour." Emma replied as she stroked Harry's hair.

"How long is long?" Steve questioned.

"Nineteen hours. I started having contractions three hours after my waters broke."

Steve was simply amazed by this. "Nineteen hours, what did you have in there a bowling ball for a baby?"

"Surprisingly not but it was all worth it, Harry weighed 7lb 4oz when he was born. But I think baby was in a bit of a huff about having to come out so he decided to punish me over it, even in the womb he had the Williams' family stubbornness…" Emma quipped.

"Was George there for the pregnancy?"

Emma shook her head. "No he was over in Afghanistan for most of it, a couple of weeks after he was sent back was when I found out I was pregnant. He was involved as much as he could be, I sent him the scans and we skyped and I filled him in on the doctors appointments. My parents were worried about me being alone and going into labour so six weeks before my due date they made me move back home. Thankfully George got time off to be here for the birth and he arrived home two days before I went into labour."

"But nineteen hours of labour Emma, seriously?" Steve said slowly.

"I know but I had an epidural for some of it so that relieved some of the pain and then hearing my baby boy cry after being born and holding him in my arms made it all worth it. Hard to believe it'll be five years this coming October, it's scary how quickly he has grown up. I'm worried I'll blink and he'll be eighteen ready to leave for college…" Emma said with a yawn.

"I think mommy needs to get some sleep, she's deserved it after all the super work that she's done these last couple of days."

Emma smiled as she moved closer to Harry and as she did, she let her arm lean over and grab Steve's good hand. "Thank you for everything Steve, you've been amazing and I don't know what I would have done without you. These past few hours have been crazy and I would have lost my mind if it wasn't for you…"

Steve just smiled and watched as Emma's eyes closed on their own accord as her body finally gave in to the long overdue sleep that she deserved. Steve himself was tired but for a few moments he just looked at the sleeping mother and child, normally he wouldn't have decided to date someone especially if they had kids as he wasn't particularly great with kids albeit Grace and Harry but there was something different about being here with Emma and Harry. And it just felt right.


	21. Chapter 21

_Hey Em, sorry for leaving but I got called into work and I didn't want to wake you and Oz so I quietly left. I'll try and stop round later, if not I'll give you a call. Don't hesitate to call if you guys need anything – Steve._

Emma looked at the note that Steve had left for her this morning and couldn't help but smile; there was something about him that she just couldn't put her fingers on but whatever it was she liked it. Which is why she was going to figure out to make up the last few days to him but whilst she was in the middle of that she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell going off. Getting up, she walked over to the door and was surprised to see that it was Rachel and Grace at the door. "Rach, Grace? What brings you over?"

"Danny called this morning and told us what happened, so we decided to come over and see how the two of you are doing," Rachel stated as Emma let them both in and as she did Grace came and hugged her waist.

"I'm really sorry that Oz was sick Aunt Emma, I made him a card!" Grace said as she held up a homemade card up to Emma.

"Wow Grace! That is so beautiful and it was so nice of you to do that, Oz is going to love it. He's in the living room if you want to join him." Emma said and immediately the young girl went off the in the direction of the living room, she honestly didn't know how her brother manage to have such a wonderful daughter who was the walking personification of optimism – it must be down to Rachel.

"You could have called me last night, I would have been there at the hospital." Rachel said as she waited until Grace had left to hug Emma.

Emma smiled; despite Rachel and Danny getting divorced she was still close with her former sister in law, Rachel was the big sister that she never had. "I know Rachel, it's just that I didn't call anyone and have them worry until I knew what we were dealing with and by then I was so caught up in what was going on with Harry and the doctors to call anyone. Which reminds me, I have to call my parents later on, if Danny tells them before I get a chance to then my mom will kill me…"

"Well we're very glad to hear that the tests came back negative, when Danny said that they thought it might meningitis, I felt so scared for you both. But how is Harry doing?" Rachel asked as the two women made their way into the living room and sat down on the couch, where Grace was playing with Harry whilst they had the tv on

"Better, he's up and moving around not to mention finally sleeping through the night again the medication we got at the hospital is definitely working, which means I'm definitely finding a new pediatrician before Harry and I both go back to preschool and work next week." Emma noted with a sigh, it was another thing to add to her very long to do list.

"But how are you doing? All of this can't be easy for you." Rachel asked.

"Honestly I'm exhausted and I feel like I've aged five years in the last few months but being here in Hawaii is helping me to relax more, I don't feel completely overwhelmed and my bosses have been really good about everything and then there's Steve. He's been great about everything." Emma stated and then proceeded to bit her lip when Rachel gave a confused looked and Emma knew that she was five seconds from putting it all together. "Did I forget to mention that I'm kind of seeing Steve?"

"Steve? As in Danny's partner Steve McGarrett?" Rachel questioned and by the one of her voice, it was obvious that she was very impressed and the humour was caught very easily by Rachel's english accent.

Emma found herself being unable to stop herself from laughing at the situation as it wasn't the Steve issue that was the most concerning part it was the fact that he was Danny's partner that was the big issue. "One in the same and I know it was a big no no considering he's Danny's partner but there was something about Steve and I just couldn't help myself and apparently he feels the same way."

"Does Danny know about this?"

"As far as I know he doesn't but I suspect that he does, last night I left him and Steve together so I could be with Harry when the doctors were performing tests, when I came back I heard shouting and then they pretended everything was fine. Sweet of them to pretend that everything's fine while I was in a middle of a crisis and having a mental breakdown but I'm not stupid…" Emma noted with a smug smile, she was really looking forward to having a conversation with Danny about her relationship with Steve. It was going o be very interesting not to mention she was certain that there was going to be a lot of raised voices.

"I'm glad that your seeing some Emma, it's clear by your face that Steve makes you happy, you deserve to be happy." Rachel noted as she squeezed Emma's hand.

"He does. When I was back in New York and Danny was telling me about Steve, I was expecting someone see and whilst he does fit some of my brother's wild description he's a really good man. I can't really explain but Steve is just wonderful… You know he knows everything? He knows about George, Olly, Matt and most of the crazy stuff that's in my life has come out and he's still here. All of that add to the fact I'm a single parent with a small child would have sent a grown man running for the hills but not Steve, it makes him more determined to stay." Emma replied as she couldn't help but smile as she spoke about Steve, even though she couldn't exactly put what she liked about Steve and how she felt about him into one comprehendible sentence Emma knew Rachel understood.

Rachel raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Very impressive. That means Danny won't be able to scare him off."

"Doesn't mean he won't try… "


	22. Chapter 22

"You know that you don't have to do that Steve? I do have a dishwasher." Emma told Steve as she took a sip of her wine as she sat on the kitchen counter and watched as he washed up the dishes from their late night dinner, despite her telling them that he could just leave the dishes for her to do later considering his arm was still in his cast but Steve insisted on doing it. So she chose not to argue with him about it, if he wanted to clean up then she'd let him.

"I want to. You made us this great dinner and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation other than show up with some flowers and a bottle of wine considering I still owe you for that date I had to bail on. So I'll make you dinner at my place, this weekend…" Steve said with a quiet laugh as he continued to do the washing up in the dark with only the dimmed lights and the candles in the background.

"That's sounds lovely, the wine is splendid and the orchids are gorgeous, thank for you them both…" Emma commented, she had never been given orchids as a gift before and so she wasn't sure of what to make of it. So she made a note to herself to take Rachel and Cecile out to lunch sometime next week so she could talk to them about it considering Rachel was married and Cecile practically had the mind of a man. Emma knew that they'd both be thoroughly impressed at the fact that Steve seemed awfully domesticated with the fact that he could cook and was willing to clean. Must be because of his background in the navy. "So what have you been up to these last couple of days? Because I know you Steve and there is no way a fracture would stop you from going into work."

"The usual, catching criminals and listening to your brother complain about whatever it is he thinks I'm doing wrong or what new thing is annoying him about Hawaii… What about you Em? Looking forward to going back to work tomorrow." Steve replied.

"Yes I am. As much as I love staying at home all day being mommy I really want to get back to work my days feel incomplete if I'm not filling out some kind of motion or preparing a brief or deposition. And hearing myself say that makes me sound like a complete workaholic." Emma noted with mild bemusement.

"No it doesn't. You're the epitome of the modern woman; beautiful, smart, raising a child whilst having a career. There is noting more sexier…" Steve said as he finished doing the washing up and dried his hands before making his way over to where Emma and his glass of wine was sitting.

Emma found herself looking at Steve for the longest time, which was hard not too as the man pretty damn handsome and that was without the whole navy background before she knew it, she had opened her big fat mouth and ruined whatever romantic moment that they were having. "Danny knows about us, doesn't he? ...Oh my god! I have no idea where that come from Steve, it just came out…"

Steve took the wine glass out of Emma's hand and placed it back on the counter as he stood between her legs before placing his hands on his waist. "Is it safe to say that somebody has had a bit too much wine to drink tonight?"

"Yeah, that wouldn't be too much of a stretch." Emma said as she could feel her face getting increasingly warmer and warmer, which only meant one thing. Her face was becoming red because of how embarrassed she was over the situation. She desperately wanted to be swallowed by a black hole or have the ground swallow her whole at this precise moment. How on earth did she manage to get herself into these situations when she was around Steve? It was completely beyond Emma's comprehension.

"Your right, Danno does know about us." Steve revealed much to Emma's displeasure and she couldn't help but lean her forehead against Steve's and groan in a weary manner. "He found out when we were at the hospital..."

"I'm guessing he didn't exactly take the news well?" Emma questioned as she imagined various scenarios in her head of her brother reacting to the news that she was dating his partner. His head had probably exploded at the news and Emma was going to have to do something about her brother despite the fact that the last thing she wanted to do was talk to Danny about her relationship with Steve.

"Not exactly. I didn't tell him per say, he kind of just put the pieces together and figured it out and he's really mad with me because he told me and I quote 'my sister is off limits to you' and now I am dating her. So Danno's not much of a happy camper." Steve replied with a small laugh.

"–Wait? Danny told you not to get involved with me? That's very interesting, let me guess? You were just so enthralled with me that you just had to disregarded what Danny told you…" Emma said as she lifted her head up in interest at this news. She couldn't exactly believe what she was hearing; her brother had actually warned Steve off her like she was some kind of procession. Her and Daniel were going to need a conversation about who she could and could not date and how he had no control over it.

"Uh huh, right again Ms. Williams…" Steve said with small laugh as he gently brushed Emma's waist with his thumb. "Your just so mesmerizing, charming and beautiful, that it didn't matter what Danny said."

"You flatter me way too much Commander McGarett but I'll talk to Danny, i'll get him to ease up on the whole intimidating big brother act, um… he's probably just worrying a bit to much." Emma replied, finding it hard to string a coherent sentence together when Steve was looking at her the way he currently was.

"Don't worry Em, I can take care of myself." Steve murmured as he stroked Emma's cheek before pressing light butterfly kissed down her jaw line.

"I'm fully aware of that Steve, but Danny is my big brother and he's being really annoying and well… um…" Emma began before trailing off, damn Steve McGarrett and those blue eyes of his and that red wine he had brought over with him! It was making her feel all different kinds of funny. "You made me forget my point…"

"I can see that, it's rather adorable..." Steve said as pulled away from Emma to laugh at her reaction before kissing her again this time on the lips, only stopping when Emma grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closer before slowly starting to undo the buttons on shirt. "Are you sure about this?"

Emma was sure about many things; the first that her brother had lost his god damn mind, the second was that she had the most adorable child in the world, thirdly the Yankee's were the greatest baseball team ever. And as her brown eyes looked at Steve's blue eyes, she knew she was sure about this. "Yes."


	23. Chapter 23

Emma stood outside her brother's apartment waiting for him to open the door to let her in, she knew he was home because when she spoke to Steve an hour ago, he told they had ended their working day and where else would her brother be except for home. Raising her hand to knock on the door once more, Emma was stopped short when the door finally opened and there stood her brother looking at her as if she was some sort of alien. "Em, what are you doing here?" Danny asked.

"I can to see my big brother." Emma said stating the obvious as there was no reason that she would be here except to see him. "I brought you beer."

Narrowing his eyes Danny reluctantly allowed his sister in after she had handed over the six pack of beer. "So what's with the unexpected visit and beer and where is Oz?"

"At home with the babysitter and don't worry I won't be here longer than ten minutes if everything goes to plan… You know Danno, you really should let me buy you a better apartment or give you money so you can afford a better one." Emma noted as she looked around her brother's apartment, she was pretty certain it was the worst apartment she had ever seen and she had seen some pretty bad ones during her time in New York.

"I've told you already and I'm going to tell once again for the ten millionth time, I am not letting you use the money that George and Olly left you to buy or donate something to me. That money is for you and Oz, besides I am a grown man and I can take care of myself Emma." Danny stated.

"If you insist." Emma replied as she sat down and her brother offered her a beer but Emma shook her head and declined. "No thank you, I'm driving not to mention I'm prosecuting hit and run where the driver was over the legal limit, twice. Wouldn't exactly look good for career if I get pulled over for a DUI…"

"So what brought you over here to my humble abode for a surprise visit, dear little sister of mine?" Danny questioned skeptically and Emma couldn't help but laugh, her was always the cynical and suspicious cop even when he was off duty,

"We need to talk about Steve. I know that you know that I'm involved with him and that you've know for over a week now and we kind of need to talk about it. To clear the air and whatever issues you have with it because as much as I appreciate the two of you not saying anything about when we were dealing Harry being in the hospital. The three of us can't ignore this forever." Emma stated and she just watched as her brother opened and beer and took a very long sip. She could already tell that this was going to be a very awkward conversation; it was like talk to her dad about sex. It was just one those things you didn't do.

"What Steve's said to you?" Danny after a minute and it was clear to the fact that Danny would rather not be talking about this as he jaw was clenched and he was grabbing his can of beer like it was the last one in the world.

Steve hadn't told her the explicit details but enough that Emma knew that her brother was only talking to Steve about work related stuff. Anything else and Danny would just ignore him. "Nothing, he wouldn't tell me a thing but then he didn't need to. You're my brother Daniel. I've seen you threaten my dates with veiled threats, then there was the whole thing with George when you found out I was pregnant."

"There is a big difference between George and Steve, Emma." Danny couldn't help but point out.

"So this isn't about the fact that I'm dating again? It's because it's Steve that's the problem. Look Danny I know he is your partner and believe me when I say it was not intentional on either of our parts but things happen and here we are." Emma explained.

"Em' you don't get it, Steve is something else entirely. There are things he has in his past not to mention the guy is insane he drove me onto a Chinese freighter ship the first day we met!" Danny retorted.

"Okay the last bit is rather concerning but all have baggage, I have the dead husband and best friend, the criminal brother on the run another brother who I can't argue with and then my four year old soon. I am the queen of baggage but Steve still wants to be here Danno, he's not put off by everything that I've gone through and he cares for Harry and me." Emma questioned before taking a deep breath. "However let me ask you one thing Danny, considering that you've knew Steve longer than me. Do you think that Steve would put Harry and I in danger? If you think he will then I will walk away because I will not put Harry in any kind of danger. But I need to tell me the absolute truth, I don't want you to give me a certain answer to protect I just need your honest opinion. So I will ask you again. Would Steve put Harry and I in danger?"

"No. Not intentionally." Danny admitted.

"Thank you."

"Em' I just worry about you and Steve is well… Steve and he's a lot to deal with and I just don't want you to get hurt. Hawaii is supposed to be a fresh start for you and Harry after everything and as much as I hate to admit this but I like having you here. So I'd rather not have the pac man in cargo shorts send you running as much as I dislike my partner seeing my little sister, if it makes you happy then I will begrudgingly go along with it…" Danny added.

Emma couldn't help but beam, despite the tough exterior that her brother put on with her most of the time, she knew he was a big softie at heart. "Danny I love you and you have always been there for me regardless of whatever's going on between us, through the good times and the bad. I know that you're just looking out for me because that's part of your job as my big brother but you need to trust me on this Steve thing. I know what I'm doing…"


	24. Chapter 24

Emma sat with Steve on the couch in her office after having been surprised when she came back from court to find him waiting for her with lunch. It was a very unexpected but very sweet and welcoming surprise especially given the extremely long and difficult day that Emma was having. "You know Steve, this just the little pick me up I need before I have to go back to court."

"Tough day?"

"Very. The defense know that their case is weak so they are just going on the attack, tearing apart my witnesses and experts trying to create that little seed of reasonable doubt in the jurors mind and it's just been a nightmare to fix but luckily I'm fixing it and I pretty sure that the jury can see what the defense is trying to do." Emma replied with a shake of her head as continued to eat.

"Well I have faith in your abilities as prosecutor and no doubt the jury will see that you are presenting the true so whatever defense attorney it is, I'm sure they'll get their comeuppance when you win you the case and the criminal gets sent to jail." Steve assured Emma and it caused her to beam a bright and happy smile.

"Why thank you Steve, you are just be great today and I must say you have great timing... first lunch and then this little pep talk, I knew there was a reason I liked you other than your charming personality and handsome looks. I think I'll keep you around for a while longer." Emma replied as she took a sip of her drink. "But enough about me Steve, how about you? How's work going over at the big Five-0 headquarters?"

"Fine it's not like we're running low on criminals to catch but they are getting more stupider with each different case although things would be better if the beautiful deputy prosecutor Emma William was prosecuting our cases."

Emma laughed slowly as moved a piece of her air out of her face. "You know we can't do that Steve, it's a conflict of interest that is why I stay away from Five-0's cases despite the fact that only Cecile, Danny and Rachel know about us. Because if I did prosecute your cases and it came out it would cause a lot of questions and cases would be reviewed and some criminals could be put back on the street. I've seen it happen a few times and as an officer of the court I can't allow that happen."

"Fair point." Steve said in agreement.

"So how are you and Danny doing? Is he still giving you the silent treatment about us?" Emma asked as nonchalantly as possible as to not give away that she had spoken to Danny about her and Steve a few days ago.

"Getting there, he's not ignoring me anymore when it comes to you but he's been making it explicitly clear that I had better not do anything to hurt you otherwise he will in fact kill me and my cargo pants very slowly. He also keeps mentioning Harry because he doesn't think I understand that you are a mother to a small boy and he doesn't think I get how important he is to you and how I can't deal with small children." Steve revealed as he eat a couple of his fries. "I know you talked to him Em' about giving me a break…"

"Doesn't seem like it did you the world of good." Emma noted.

Steve couldn't help but smile. "I told you that I could handle Danny and whatever he threw at me, I got why he was mad at me Emma. You didn't have to do this."

"But I wanted to, Danny has given every single one of my boyfriends who he had ever met crap from the moment he's met them and I admit that some of them deserved it as I've dated some morons in my time. But you don't deserve this Steve, you're a good guy and Danny knows it. So he should be giving you a break…" Emma explained as she patted Steve's knee in a reassuring manner. "But with this whole Harry thing why don't you prove Danny wrong?

"How?"

"Take Harry for a weekend, Danny has a certain image of you and sometimes it's not in the best of light." Emma simply put as she stole one of Steve fries. "Danny mainly see's you mostly as the crazy navy guy in cargo pants but I know that you're more than that Steve. Your kind and caring amongst other things, as for this kids thing… you may not have a lot of experience with kids but I've seen you with both Grace and Harry, they both like you Steve and it's not hard to see why."

"As much as I like them, it does exactly change the fact that Danny is right." Steve said with a sigh.

Emma rolled her eyes. "No he's not. Look now that I've made it clear to Danny that I am fine and I'm not having a mental breakdown anytime in the near future now he's taken to worrying about my little bundle of sunshine. Harry is heavily lacking male role models, with George and Olly being dead, then Matt being on the run and my dad being back in Vegas. The only person he has is Danny, so I think maybe my brother wants to make it clear how important Harry is."

"You don't think I know that Em? I know how much Harry means to both you and Harry. I know that I'm not a parent like you and Danny but I like Harry, he's sweet kid and it's not hard to love him–" Steve demanded.

"Steve I know that. You don't have to explain it to me but your in my life now and that means your in Harry's too which I guess is what's with Danno being on your case all the time. So I want you to do this, Danny has Grace this weekend so you take Harry and prove to him that you can do this. Show him what I see and most importantly why Harry adores you…" Emma said as she linked her hand with Steve's and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay then, I'll do it."


	25. Chapter 25

Emma and Harry turned up to Steve's bright and early on Saturday morning and the mother and son duo had bright matching grins on their faces. As Steve watched Emma balance Harry on her hip he couldn't but notice the resemblance between of the two was getting more apparent. According to Matt before he went to on the run, Harry looked like his, Emma and Danny's father but also George. Steve had only seen pictures of both Mr. Williams and George but there was something about the brown eyes and blonde hair and those smiles that really stood out. "You sure your ready to do this?" Emma questioned.

"Yes I am, there is nothing to worry about Em the two of us will be just fine." Steve assured her.

"Okay but there are just some things that we need to before I leave and then the two of you will be set to go like if you go swimming or the beach then you have to put on sun screen, a hat his floaties as we're still working on the whole swimming thing. I know that I don't have to tell you this because of the whole navy thing but drowning is not an option with me–" Emma began.

"Do you not trust me?" Steve interrupted as he raised one of his eyebrows in amusement over Emma's intense concern over her son, but he couldn't fault her on that as she was a good mom.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Of course I do Steve but this is my baby boy, my four year old son we are talking about, he is my only child. Emphasis on the only child part. I trust you completely but this is my son. Trusting you and trusting you with him are two separate things and I do not mean any offense by that but I know that I don't have anything to worry about. After you are a navy seal and I'm pretty you've done harder things that looking after a four year old boy for two days.

"Okay…Toilet trained?" Steve said moving the subject along, he wasn't going to say that this weekend was going to be easy as didn't have much experience with kids. And the only experience he did have was with Grace and Harry but even then both Emma and Danny had always been there. Not once had he been left alone with a child.

"Yes he is but nighttime accidents have been known to occur so to avoid that do not let him have a drink after half six and make sure he goes to the toilet before he goes to bed. Speaking of bedtimes I usually start getting ready for bed round about half seven, pj's are in his bag and he doesn't need help with. Story is mandatory with him I'm afraid and he will not go to bed without Grover but they are both in his bag." Emma explained.

"Grover!" Harry explained.

"Yeah buddy, we're just explaining to Steve that Grover is the special bear given to you by Grandpa and he comes out at bedtime." Emma explained as poked Harry's stomach affectionately.

"Anything else I need to know? Or you haven't told me five times already like how I should put Harry down for a nap after lunch for an hour but if he's cranky beforehand to let him sleep for another hour. Not to mention that he doesn't have any allergies and he loves to eat practically anything but I will have to cut up his food into smaller child edible pieces." Steve asked and he watched as Harry laughed as Emma's face started going red.

"I know we've been over this several times but he is my baby boy and I just can't help but worry about him, especially after what's happened these last eight or nine months." Emma replied with a small smile as she placed Harry down on the ground. "But I know he will absolutely fine with you, if you need anything then either call me or Danno and I know that I don't have to say anything about the pediatrician or the hospital."

"Yes Oz will be fine with me, so you can go and have a nice relaxing weekend with Cecile and do whatever it is the two of you do with your spare time." Steve assured Emma as he looked down to Harry who was holding onto the pocket of his mother's jeans and seemed totally oblivious to the conversation at hand.

Smiling Emma bent down so she could look Harry in the eyes. "Hey bud, I've got to go now but your going to have a super time with Steve and he's going to take real good care of you. Now listen to me Harry, I don't want you pulling any funny business with Steve just because I'm not here. I want you to behave for him just like you would for me. Danno and Ms. Kalei, is that clear?"

"Yes momma!" the four years old squeaked nodding his head to show that he understood what he was being told.

"Good boy! Because I don't want to have to tell Grandpa and Grandma that you haven't been a good boy when we go home to visit them soon. Now come give me a hug as I'm going to miss you very much this weekend." Emma began and Harry wrapped his arms tightly around his mother's neck and it caused both Emma and Steve to laugh. "Mom loves Oz."

"Oz loves momma!"

Emma smiled and kissed the top of Harry's head before standing back up and turning her attention to Steve. "Well now that we have that sorted, I'll ask you this one more time before I leave just in case you want to back out. So are you sure you want to do this Steve?"

"Yes I do." Steve replied as he gave Emma a kiss on the check before motioning for her to leave. "Now go, the two of us will be fine and we'll see you tomorrow night!"

"If your sure…" Emma laughed as she made her way out of the door and seconds later she was gone leaving Steve alone with the four year old Harry, who was looking at him expectantly with his big brown eyes. If Harry was anything like his mother and uncle, this weekend was going to be interesting to say the least…


	26. Chapter 26

"So Oz, what do you want to do today?" Steve asked as he bent down in order to properly look at the four year old boy who was looking at him, blinking on occasion with those big brown eyes of his, the same brown eyes as his mother which Steve had become so fond of. Just because if that, it made Steve even more fond on Oz because here in front of him was the son of the woman he was pretty sure he was slowly falling in love with. Oz was a miniature version of Emma and despite the fact that he wasn't exactly child friendly he was going to make an effort with Oz for Emma's sake and to prove to Danny that he could handle this.

"Fun! Fun!" Harry squeaked before proceeding to bounce around as if he was a rabbit which caused Steve to laugh and after he had shown Oz around the house, they went outside to play in the back yard. Steve decided to go simple so he brought out an old football of his, which seemed to please Harry. "Ball! Football Steve!"

"You like football, huh Oz?" Steve asked as he gently threw the ball to Harry who ran after the ball.

"Momma and I like the giants! Grandpa watches it with me when momma is busy being a lawyer, and he said he'll take me when I'm bigger!" Harry excitedly said as he threw the ball back as best as a four year old could be.

The two of them played around for over an hour and Steve was surprised by the amount of boundless energy that Harry had as the four year old was laughing his tiny little head off as he ran around the back yard until he had a bit of an accident. Steve wasn't exactly sure what happened as one moment Harry was laughing and running around, the next minute he was lying on the floor facing the ground not moving and Steve ran over and was at his side in an instant. "Harry?!"

"Ouchie!" Came a quiet little sob as Harry rolled onto his back and started crying his tiny little eyes out and Steve let out a sigh of relief as he had never been so scared and terrified in his life. He had seen a lot of things which could be considered scary but none of that compared to seeing a child laying on the floor not moving. Steve saw that Harry was fine for the most part until he immediately noticed the cut on his knee that was bleeding.

"Come on buddy, let's get you cleaned up." Steve said as he scooped Harry up and carried him into the kitchen and sat him down on the kitchen counter before going to grab the first aid kit. Harry continued to quietly cry and Steve knew that cleaning the cut with an antiseptic wipe was going to make it worse. "Hey Oz, can you be a brave little soldier for me?"

"Yep." Harry hiccupped.

Going as quickly as he could Steve cleaned up the cut and placed a plaster of it, making a note in his head to pick up some children's plasters for next time something like this happened. "All done, how does that feel buddy?"

"B-Better…" Harry sniffled as he wiped his eyes with his little fists.

"Do you want to take nap? Will that make you feel better?" Steve asked as Harry looked completely worn out and so he figured he could put Harry down for a nap now and then feed him when he got up and apparently the little boy seemed to agree as he nodded his head.

"With Grover?"

"Yes with Grover." Steve chuckled and Harry held his arms out open and Steve picked him up and carried him upstairs where the little boy had no problem falling asleep once he had his faithful companion Grover, not to mention the running and the crying had tired him out.

Just over an hour later Steve woke up a slightly weary eyed and quiet Harry for lunch and the youngster seemed to be in a grumpy and solemn mood as they ate and Steve figured he probably should have let him sleep for another hour. But given that it was too late for that he figured that he'd take Harry out somewhere to cheer him up. And that place was the zoo that miraculously seemed to cheer up grumpy Harry as the kid seem rejuvenated especially when Steve took him to the zoo.

"That monkey kind of looks like you Oz," Steve told Harry who was sitting on his shoulder as the zoo was crowed and it seemed like the smartest thing to so as not to lose Oz in the crowds. Given everything that he had seen in his life during his time in the navy and in Five-0 not to mention his time generally living, Steve knew the world could be a cruel and what people could be capable of. And the last thing he wanted was to lose Emma's pride and joy because she along with Danny would actually kill him.

"NO!" Harry chorused in a loud giggle. "I'm not a monkey… Momma says I am her little… lion, like Simba!"

Steve noted what Harry had just said and if Harry was the lion then it would make Emma the lioness, which sounded just about right considering how protective she was of her only child. "You sure she said lion and not monkey? Because you do look like that monkey.

"Silly Steve!" Harry shrieked with laughter before beckoning Steve to carry and the two of them continued to go around the zoo and when they reached the reptile enclosure Steve put Harry down on the ground and found that Emma was right about Oz, he like any other four year old had the attention of a hummingbird. He was running around looking at all the animals and making impressed noises and pulling Steve over when he wanted to show him something. "Look Steve it's a froggy! A real froggy!"

According to the plaque beside him, the two of them were looking at a Green and Black Poison dart frog although Steve thought it was best to not to mention this bit of information to the small four year old boy that was currently held his hand, which caused Steve to smile. He wasn't exactly big on kids but he liked being around Oz not to mention Grace. "You like frogs Oz?"

"I think so, they go ribbet ribbet and they hop, Ms. Kalei says they are Anfibs." Harry said.

"Do you mean Amphibians?" Steve said laughing at Harry's mistake.

"Na uh! She said Anfibs." Harry said taking his turn to now laugh at Steve who chose to let it go because the last thing he wanted to do was get into an argument with another man from the Williams family even if he was only four years old and believed that Santa lived on fifth avenue. Steve knew better than that after months of working with Danny.

Hours later Steve and Harry were leaving the zoo to head back to the house with Steve driving and Harry sitting in his booster seat with the toy hippo that Steve had brought him. When Steve gave Harry the hippo the four year old did what he called the 'happy dance' with his new friend Wally the Hippo before hugging Steve tightly across his legs in appreciation and singing a song about his happy hippo the entire car journey home. Keeping with mind about what Emma had advised him Steve had made a simple meal that he knew Harry would like, making sure to cut it all up into small edible pieces for him and after dinnertime came bath time, which was less complicated then Steve expected it to be and eventually Oz was in his pajamas talking to Emma on the phone before story time.

"… I got a boo boo today momma!"

"Really? What happened baby?" Emma said over the phone despite knowing full well what happened as Steve had given her a heads up before hand as not to freak her at.

"I was playing football with Steve and I fell, it hurt a lot but I was a brave soldier like daddy." Oz said proudly. "But will you kiss it better like you always do, when you come get me, Grover and Wally tomorrow?"

"Of course I will but whose this new friend of yours?" Emma asked and the moment she did Harry started talking ten miles a minute describing his trip to the zoo with Steve who stood in the doorway and watched as Emma somehow managed to understand every single word that her son was saying, not to mention asking him question about what animals did he like and why he decided to call the hippo Wally and she sounded fully interested and not as if she was feigning interest.

"Love you momma."

"Momma loves you too Sweetpea, now I want you to pass the phone back over to Steve then climb into bed and wait with Grover and Wally for story time." Emma instructed and Harry followed them to the letter t.

"Hello?" Steve asked when he got the phone.

"He's having a great time with you, so whatever it is your doing Steve just keep it up and you'll be fine. Harry's is Harry and happy which is all I can ever ask and he adores so that is also brilliant so you just have to hold on for one more day and then you will be free from it all and I'll be back to take over." Emma said with a small chuckle.

"He's a great kid Em."

"I know, just a little bundle of delight and I wish he could just stay the way he is forever but he can't." Emma said with a small sigh.

"What are you up to?"

"Having cocktails with Cecile or rather I was, when you called she was flirting with the bartender so I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen next, But knowing Cecile it'll be something outrageous and boarding on the lines of being illegal. So if you receive a call late at night, it may be me calling you to bail me out." Emma quipped.

"I'll bare that in mind." Steve replied and moments later the two of them said goodbye and Steve cracked on with bedtime with Harry and the reading of the story book which just so happened to be Curious George confidently. Ten minutes later, there was one finished story and one child ready for bed, so Steve crept back downstairs thinking he was finally done for the day but five minutes after he had come downstairs after putting Oz down for the bed, the youngster came trailing into the living room with his beloved teddy bear Grover. "What's wrong Oz?"

The small boy made his way over to the armchair that Steve was sitting in and climbed onto his lap in order to give him a hug. "Momma always gives me a hug good night so I thought I'd give you one, night night Steve."

"Good night Oz." Steve replied with a small smile as he hugged the small boy back and moments later Harry pulled away and slide off Steve's lap and made his way back up stairs with Grover in tow and Steve could just feel his heart swell. At the moment he had just shared with Harry. There was no doubt about it; Oz was a complete and utter momma's boy, which explained why he was such an affectionate child as Emma was such an affectionate woman herself and was always waving off compliments about how good of a mother she was. But the way Steve saw it was that it took a pretty amazing woman to raise a great kid like Harry and Steve rather liked having the two of them in his life.


	27. Chapter 27

The next morning things went off to a bit of a slow start as Harry was a bit a slow and sluggish in terms of getting ready but that was fine for Steve as he figured they would take it easy for now before going to the beach later on. So they spent the morning in the garage working on his dad car, which seemed like more than enough to make a small four year old boy happy and content. It actually amazed Steve how easily occupied Oz was handing him tools and helping poke around his did old car.

All of this made Steve realized how much he missed out on doing all of these things with his own father as after his mother died, his dad just kind of disappeared into himself and before sending him and Mary back to the main land. Steve enjoyed doing all this bonding with Oz over the weekend as he knew the four year old didn't have much male presence in his life except for Danny given that like him his own dad was dead and Steve knew how much that would affect the little boy later on in life. So spending time with Oz was something that he'd like to keep doing, as although he hadn't been the biggest fan of kids and had no experience with them but Oz had kind of changed that. Steve liked having the little boy around and wanted both Oz and Emma to remain in his life for the foreseeable future. The two of them worked on the car for most of the morning until lunch and naptime and after those we're all taken care of the two of them hit the beach.

"Swim! Swim Steve!" Harry squeaked as he figitated anxiously in Steve's arm.

"I know bud, just give me two seconds and then we can go because your mother will kill me if we don't get these floaties of yours on." Steve said with a small chuckle as he wrestled to get the armbands on the rather reluctant four year old. Despite the fact he knew that Oz would be fine with him in the water, Emma was adamant that her son had to wear armbands as she was in the middle of teaching her son how to swim and she had no intention of letting him drown. Which made the armbands mandatory.

"Hurry!" Harry pleaded.

"We're all done now bud!" Steve replied letting go of Harry once he was done and the moment he did, the four year old flew out his arms and ran straight towards the sea and Steve had to run after him and was surprised at how quick Harry had gone as even as a energetic four year old he was rather quick. The two of them played around in the water for a good while before they had decided to move on to building sandcastles. "Hey Oz, how'd you get so good at making sandcastles bud?"

"Uncle Olly!" Harry giggled as he scooped more sand with his spade and placed into his bucket.

Steve was surprised to hear the four year old mention his deceased 'Uncle' as he hadn't heard Harry mention his deceased godfather once since the entire time he had lived in Hawaii. "Your uncle, huh?"

"Uncle Olly showed me when he took momma and I to Disneyland, he was the bestest."

"You miss him?" Steve found himself asking and the four year old surprised him by looking up at him with a soulful look in his eyes, Steve was aware of the fact that Harry knew that his godfather was dead as Emma had explained it to him a few times and she hadn't gone into detail about it but she had said that it took Harry a while to understand.

"Yes but momma says that Uncle Olly is in heaven getting up to no good with daddy." Harry replied as he resumed his sandcastle building duties by turning over his bucket in the sand and moments later pulling the bucket back and producing a near perfect castle.

Steve was surprised about how easily Oz could talk about his godfather and father so easily without getting upset and move on to something else moments later, he guessed it was the perks of being a child and having the attention span of a hummingbird or then again, maybe it was because he had a parent who took the time to teach him about death. Oz seemed so unaffected the fact that he had lost two very prominent figures in his life at such a young age. Choosing not to dwell on this any longer Steve soon found himself laughing with the four year old, remembering what Emma had said to him about how it was hard to be sad when you have a four year old son. Like always she was right. Hours later the two of them had decided to call it a day as Oz was getting tired and Emma was going to be coming to getting him in a little over an hour

"Excuse me? I couldn't help but notice that you and your son are really sweet together." A woman sitting on the beach said as Steve made his way past her as he followed Oz backed towards his house. Steve chose not to correct the woman and instead smiled and thanked her before moving on, despite the fact that Harry was not his son, it was a nice compliment anyway.

When they got back to Steve's house, the two of them got cleaned up and Harry sat in the living room drawing in a coloring book when the doorbell went off and when he opened the door Steve was not surprised in the slightest to see Emma at the door, standing there with a bright smile on her face. "Hey Em…"

"I see your still standing, I'm assuming that everything went okay?" Emma questioned as she placed a kiss on Steve's cheek before proceeding to talk into the house.

"It went fine, if fact it was great. There was nothing for you to worry about Steve assured Emma before turning his attention back over to Harry. "Hey bud, guess whose here to see you?"

Seconds later Harry's head snapped up in attention and he stopped what he was doing and jumped off his seat and ran over into Emma's waiting arms. "Momma!"

"Ohh I've missed you so much baby boy!" Emma said kissing Oz in an exaggerated manner, which caused him to giggle loudly as the two of them hugged each other tightly before Emma let go off him and told Oz to go get his stuff. "So he wasn't too much trouble for you Steve?"

"No trouble at all, what about Cecile was she any trouble?" Steve said.

"Somewhat but not all of it." Emma quietly said and straight away Steve noticed something in her change not to mention this distant far off look that Emma had in her eyes.

"What is it? What happened?" Steve questioned.

"Nothing, it's nothing Steve so don't worry about it."

Steve wasn't stupid, he knew that if Emma was worrying about it then it wasn't nothing although at times she did tend to over worry but it was always within good reason. "Talk to me Emma, tell me what's wrong…"

"I got a call this morning." Emma wearily began biting her lip and fiddling with her hands, a sign that Steve knew meant that Emma was incredibly anxious. Whatever was bothering her must be really bad if she was admitted.

"What kind of call?"

"A parental call." Emma said and Steve took a baited breath, he figured since he could deal with most of the Williams clan here in New York he could deal with Mrs. and Mrs. Williams as there was now way that they were even more dysfunctional than their children.

"Your parents?"

"No. Not mine, George's parents. They along with George's brother and sister are coming here to visit in a few days." Emma announced.

"Oh." Steve replied slowly, that wasn't exactly what he was expecting her to say but then again he had never heard of her mention her husband's family except for the fact that we're estranged. "I take it that's a problem."

"Kind of, things are fine with George's brother Peter and his sister Kim but it's rather complicated and rather strained with his parents. Do you remember me telling you that they weren't exactly pleased when George enlisted in the army instead of joining the family business?" Emma questioned and Steve nodded, he had been told in brief when Emma first came to Hawaii when he had asked why Harry had her surname instead of George's. "Well back when George was alive and Harry had just been born things were fine for a while, everyone was excited about the baby and getting on and then things changed one day when Harry was a few months old. There was a phone call for George, it was from the Army…"

"They were calling him back for duty." Steve said guessing where Emma was going with this and she just nodded.

"Yeah. It was a bit of a hard blow for everyone, in particular George's parents, they thought that as George's partner as I was at the time that I could convince him not to go back. But I couldn't do that, I knew that if George didn't report for duty then they would have come looking him. I also knew that as much as George loved us, serving his country was always what he wanted to, it was what he was passionate about and who was I to stop him?" Emma stated and Steve nodded in understanding.

"You let him go."

Emma let out small smile. "I did, not without marrying him first though…"

"What happened?" Steve questioned although he kind of knew where this story was heading, with the death of George.

"George's parents weren't happy but he didn't care, he stopped caring what they thought years ago so he went back and served for six months before coming back for a break for a few weeks then returning for another tour and then coming home for one last time... That was the last time we were together, the next time he came home he came back in a coffin… It was hard as you know for me and also them and his parents kind of blame me for it, which is kind of understandable I guess…" Emma said uncomfortably and Steve placed a comforting hand at her side.

"How can they blame you for what happened? You weren't the one who shot him Emma–" Steve demanded in shock.

"I know but sometimes people need someone to blame and it didn't help that I moved from D.C. to New York and then coming here, they weren't happy about it in the slightest. But each time I've told them that they are welcome to come and visit anytime. I want them to be involved in Harry's life as they are his grandparents and I want Harry to know about his dad and George's family can tell him things that I can't. This visit is unexpected but they were George's family and they are Harry's family... Things may have been complicated and strained with George but they absolutely adore Harry and he had a right to see them…" Emma said with a tired tone of voice.

"Have you told them? About us, I mean? That you're seeing someone?" Steve questioned.

"No, but I should tell them and I will. Tim and Louise won't be too happy to hear that but it's been almost three years now and just because George is dead doesn't mean that I have to stop living my life. I'll always love their son and be grateful for everything George gave me especially Harry but I can't be a widow forever, I've moved on and they'll have to accept that…"


	28. Chapter 28

"You know I think I should call George's parents and tell them that this isn't a good time, Danny is still in the hospital and I should really be there with him, he was poisoned and he almost died…" Emma said as she finished getting here, George's family had arrived last night and she along with Harry was now going to meet them for some quality family time. Although Emma was trying to find a way to get out if it even if that meant using Danny who had been hospitalized earlier in the week because of gas poisoning.

"Em, Danny is fine and you know it otherwise you wouldn't have left the hospital and you know that you avoid this, these people have flown across the country to come and see you and Oz, so you have to go." Steve replied with a small chuckle as he made his way over to where Emma was sitting at her dresser and placed his hands on her shoulder. "C'mon are George's parents really that bad?"

"Yes and no, it's just that they've really liked me and then it got worse for obvious reasons given that they blame me for their son's death and I don't like dealing with them at the best of the times, especially by myself. It was so much easier when George and Ollie were alive." Emma rattled.

"How the hell do they not like you?"

"I'm not the kind of girl who they imagined welcoming into their family, George went to the best schools that money could buy and I went to public schools, then a state college on scholarship and when I went to Harvard I was a job whilst I had financial aid. George came from old money whereas I came from working class parents; his dad is a CEO and my dad if a firefighter. We came from two ends of the social spectrum. And don't get me started on what they think about me working in the D.A'S office…" Emma replied as she put earrings on.

"So his entire family are snobs? Is that what your trying to say?" Steve questioned with a small frown.

"No, George's brother and sister aren't all but his parents on the other hand are and they just see me as that average looking girl who manage to convince a rich guy to marry her. George wasn't into all that elitist stuff like his parents were and that's how the problems started…" Emma snorted in bemusement. "But they are Harry's family. George put up with mine, well he liked mine but you get my point. I'll go and out up with Tim and Louise for a few days, play the dutiful daughter in law and smile even when they are criticizing me for part time nanny, moving from D.C to New York and then Hawaii in the space of three years…"

"Average looking? They said that you were average looking?" Steve questioned, still slightly hung up on that part as he was taken by surprise that someone would call Emma average looking, when she was far from that. He thought she was gorgeous and he wasn't ashamed to admit in the slightest.

"Don't forget the gold digger! I always liked that one, but don't worry Steve it's fine I can deal with the little snide comment and digs." Emma chuckled.

"They're crazy your far from average Emma, you are absolutely beautiful."

"My self esteem thanks you for that, I may need you to remind me of that whilst I complain about how deluded I must have been to agree to spend time with Tim and Louise but thankfully Kim and Peter will keep me from losing all my sanity…" Emma slowly said trailing off when she picked up two small objects from her jewellery box. Her rings.

"Are you going to wear them?" Steve asked looking over Emma's shoulder to where she was holding her engagement and wedding rings in her fingers.

Emma slowly put the rings down before turning around in order to face Steve. "I'm not married anymore so I have no need to wear them, I keep them more for sentimental reasons than anything and I plan on giving Harry my engagement ring when that day, very far in the future comes when he meets a girl who he wants to marry. But my wedding ring? I can't let it go, I buried George with his and apart from Harry it's the only thing I have that symbolizes our marriage."

"You don't have to explain this to me Em, I get it… In a I've never been married but I understand where you're coming from kind of way." Steve offered which caused Emma to laugh.

"I'm going to tell them about you, well not today but some point during their visit." Emma announced and she watched the wearily look that quickly spread across Steve's face.

"Em I don't know about that, I don't think you want the boat to rock more than it already is…"

"Tim and Louise are already unhappy with me so me telling them that I'm in a relationship isn't going to change much, maybe just make them even more unhappy with me but that's totally irrelevant. I'm not ashamed of you Steve so I'm not going to hide the fact that I've moves on. They can't expect to put my life on hold and remain by myself for the rest of my life. I was twenty eight years old when I was widowed and that is an incredibly young age to have a young son and a dead husband. I loved my life but I moved on for the better and I wouldn't change what I have now as I live in what is practically heaven on earth, Harry is happy and healthy, growing by the day. I have family here as well as friends, then I have you. If George's parents can't deal with that then they'll have to suck it!" Emma stated as she stood up from her seat.

"Suck it, huh?" Steve asked in amusement.

"I'm happy, I can get away with saying things like that."


	29. Chapter 29

Emma's world was falling apart, metaphorically of course. It wasn't like someone was dead, well it was because somebody was dead but it was different this time as it wasn't someone she close with like a husband, a friend or a family member. It was the Governor was dead and apparently her boyfriend the navy seal was responsible. The last five days had been pretty hellish for Emma given that her in laws were still in Hawaii and she would have lost her mind already if it wasn't for her former brother and sister in laws Peter and Kim keeping a handle on things. But Steve getting arrested for murder pretty much made this the week from hell for Emma.

"What the hell is going on Danny? I've been calling you all day because of some rumors about Steve being on the run from the cops as they want to arrest him for murder of the governor's aide. A few hours later I get a phone call from a colleague saying that Steve has been arrested for murder, this time it's the governors one!" Emma demanded pulling Danny to the side the moment she walked into HPD and spotted him.

"I can't tell you Emma." Danny grimly replied.

"Can't or won't tell me Daniel? I know something's going on because Steve has been tightly wound up although trying to mask it by focusing on my problems instead of his. I'm not stupid Danny contrary to what you and Steve may think!" Emma snapped, making sure to be quiet enough not to draw any attention to them. "Did he do it?"

"Of course he didn't do it, don't be so ridiculous Em!" Danny snapped.

"Me being ridiculous? My boyfriend's been arrested for murder and IA is snooping around your office and speaking to Kono about that money that went missing, ten million dollars if I'm correct? So don't call me ridiculous! We all know that Five-0 doesn't fallow the normal chain of command and that you only answer to the governor or former in this case!" Emma retorted.

"Look it's complicated Emma and I can't explain to you right so please just trust me on this, I know it's a lot to ask of you Em. I also need you to go and do something, surely you can do something for Steve or at least get me into talk to him." Danny began only stopping when he saw his sister was shaking her head.

"Danny I can't touch this."

"What do you mean you can't touch this Em? This is Steve we're talking about you've got to be able to do something!"

"Firstly I'm in a relationship with Steve, that is a major conflict on interest and secondly there is no way an ADA is going to be assigned to prosecute a high profile case like this especially given that it's the governors murder! This case is going straight to the DA… Look I can't help Steve, it's not exactly a secret in my office that I'm dating Steve but I can get someone I know to help Steve." Emma explained in an irritated tone of voice before taking a deep breath and walking away. Several minutes later Emma came back and rejoined. "I've called a friend of mine, she's the best defense attorney I know, maybe she can do something…"

Danny nodded slowly and walked over to a bunch of nearby seats and sat down, quickly followed by Emma. "Thanks Em, where's Oz?"

"At home with Kim, Oz wants her to take him to school tomorrow so she came over to stay the night and hang out with us in general and when I got the call about Steve and what happened, she offered to watch Oz so I didn't have to call the nanny. She was pretty cool about the whole Steve thing, from me telling her and the rest of her family that I'm in a relationship to the whole 'oh god my boyfriend has just been arrested for murder' thing."

"Did you tell her that you're falling in love with Steve?" Danny quietly asked.

"Did it not cross your mind once to tell me that you're having an affair with Rachel?" Emma retorted which just caused the two of them to sigh. Things weren't exactly peaceful at the moment.

"She's pregnant, Rach… she's left Stan and going back home." Danny announced.

"That's great Danny." Emma replied trying her best to sound as enthusiastic as she could for her brother but it wasn't much. She was happy for him of course but right now she was tired and stressed out, which didn't look like that was going to end anytime soon. The two of them sat there for a couple of more minutes until Danny started getting angsty and got to start hassling people to get any information that he could. Time started blurring and Emma wasn't sure how long she had been at HPD or how many bad cups of coffee she had but then relief came in the shape of Cecile Roberts. Getting up from her seat Emma went over and hugged her friend. "Thanks for coming Cecile."

"Of course, what do you know?" Cecile asked getting straight to the point.

"Nothing much, it's all sketchy but basically they found Steve in the governors office with a gun in his hand and that's all I've got as no one is saying anything right now and I'm keeping my distance because the DA will have my ass if I do. My brother is too distracted to be any help running around like a headless chicken so here's hoping you'll get something out of Steve." Emma said with a hopeful smile.

"I'll try." Cecile replied with a small smile, placing a hand on Emma's shoulder before walking over to the desk sergeant and demanding to see her client.

"Who was that?" Danny demanded walking over to Emma once Cecile had diapered with an office.

"The friend I called, Cecile is a defense attorney I go up against quite frequently and she's pretty good so I called and asked her if she could come down and represent Steve. If anyone can help then it's Cecile… It's the least I can do despite the fact that you won't tell me anything about why Steve was at the governors mansion in the first place!" Emma snapped not caring about her tone of voice anymore, she wanted to know what the hell had happened but Danny was insistent on treating her like a child.

"Emma–" Danny began.

"Shut up!" Emma spat as she noticed Cecile making her way over to them, which was rather concerning as she had been gone less than five minutes and her reappearance did not bode well and Emma had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What happened? What did Steve say?"

"Not much, I can't tell you the specifics Emma but Steve is going to let me be his council however he wanted me to tell you to go home. He said that this isn't any of your concern and you should just stay out if it and forget about him. He says if you don't do what he says then he'll fire me and truthfully Emma, it's not looking good. Steve needs all the help he can get..." Cecile said after a few moments.

"That son of a bitch! I get him the best defense attorney I know given that I can't go anywhere near the case and he does this?" Emma began clenching her fists together before taking several deep breaths and turning to Cecile, all the frustration and urges to strangle Danny had now transferred over to Steve. Good thing she wasn't allowed to see him. "I've overreacting but let's ignore that for now, chances of bail?"

"The Governor's dead and your boyfriend is the prime suspect, it's not going to happen Em especially not on a murder one charge like this. Steve's going to spend the night in lockup and being arraigned in the morning and then probably be shipped out to county. We all know the DA is going to want to make an example, I'm sorry." Cecile replied.

"It's not your fault Cecile…" Emma wearily began as she ran her hand through her hair; her brain was turning into noodles. "I think my brain is in the process of shutting down, I need to go home and get some sleep. I've got to get up in a couple of hours to do the school run and work, so I'll call you both in the morning…"


	30. Chapter 30

Emma sat reclined on her couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table with a half a drunken glass of red wine in her hand. The last five days had been an incredibly long and stressful day and the wine was helping her unwind. This whole Steve apparently murdering the governor had everyone talking not only in Emma's office but the entire department for obvious reasons but she was sick of hearing about it already. Not in really bad way as it was sad that the governor was dead but hearing the theories why her boyfriend had killed the governor.

"…Harry is out like a light, I'm surprised he managed to stay up as long as he did but he was adamant about staying up to see you."

"Thank you for everything Kim, I owe you big time." Emma said as she was joined by her former sister in law Kimberley Oswald who seemed to be her lifesaver as Emma doubted she wouldn't be able to cope if it wasn't for Kim offering to extend her trip to help out with Harry since this whole Steve ordeal started.

"Hey, it's no problem Em! I love being here and spending time with you and Oz, I see Pete's kids all the time and whilst I love them sometimes they drive me up the wall so it's been nice for me to come out here and spend sometime with one of my favourite nephews." Kim said as she took a sip of her own wine. "He knows something is wrong Emma, Harry is just like George when it comes to picking up tense atmospheres."

"I know. But I have no idea what to tell him Kim as I have no idea what is going on myself, I'm not allowed to go near the case at work and my friend Cecile can't tell me anything as she's Steve attorney. The only information I get is occasionally by Danny and from the news and even then it isn't mush. I don't know how I'm going to tell Harry because he adores Steve, I couldn't even tell him about Matt because I knew how much Harry adored him. Matt running off broke his little heart and I don't want to do that again, Harry has lost too many people already." Emma wearily said.

"It'll be okay, you'll figure it out Em. You always do." Kimberly reassured her.

"You being here means a lot to me Kim. I couldn't have coped this last few days without you. Harry adores you so much, he's missed you so much and having you come out means a lot and I love having you here too. I'm just sorry all of this stuff popped up. You know I was worrying how to tell you, Tim, Louise and Peter that I was in a relationship, I never expected that my boyfriend would be arrested for murder… " Emma replied.

"Don't be sorry, none of this is your fault. I happy to do this and help out when needed, you've got a lot on your plate. I want to be here with my family that much so I'm thinking of extending my trip longer, if you'll have me…" Kim coyly offered.

"We'd love to have you Kim and you know that the guest room is yours, for however long you want it. You are always welcome here." Emma said before being interrupted by her doorbell going off and rather reluctantly she dragged herself off the couch and made her way over to the front door. Looking through the peephole Emma say it was Danny much to her dismay, given how the two of them weren't exactly getting alone at the moment because of this whole Steve business. Despite not wanting to see or talk to him Emma opened the door. "What do you want Danny?"

"We need to talk." Danny solemnly said.

"Make it quick." Emma said opening the door wider so he could come in, shutting the door behind him once he had come in, Emma quickly made her way back to the couch and resumed drinking her glass of wine. If she were going to talk to Danny, about what she presumed would be about Steve she needed alcohol.

"Hello Kimberly." Danny began addressing Kim.

"Hello Daniel." Kim said replying in a rather dry tone of voice, her and Danny got perfectly well most of the time although the two of them had a thing about calling each other by their full name.

"So what do you want Danny? And whatever you want to say Danny, you can say in front of Kim." Emma idly said.

"I need a favor–" Danny began.

"–Forget it. Never going to happen." Emma interrupted.

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask!"

Emma rolled her eyes. "I don't need to know the specifics, all I have to know is that you want and whatever it is will most likely put me in an awkward place or make me feel very uncomfortable. And I don't want either so whatever you want or need from me your not going to get. I'm sorry, but you'll have to go find someone else."

"Look Em, I've got someone coming in who may be able to help Steve but he needs to know what the D.A.'s office currently have and with Five-0 currently disbanded I'm having a hard time getting any information from your office." Danny explained.

"Danny how many times do I have to tell you no? I have told you repeatedly that I cannot go anywhere near this case, I have been warned several times including by the D.A himself who is my boss that if I so much as sniff around this case then I am done for. I'll be out of a job and probably be reported to the ethics committee and facing disbarment–" Emma firmly stated.

"Em, this is Steve we're talking about!

"I don't care if it's the dalai fricking lama, I'm not risking my job. Just because Five-0 made a frequent habit of breaking the rules to get the job done doesn't mean the rest of us work like that. I have a family to provide for or have you forgotten about your nephew? I am sorry about Steve but I cannot help you Danny, you are on your own for this one. Oh and by the way? If Steve wants my help, then he can call me himself."

"Emma…" Danny began with a sigh.

"The last time I checked Steve didn't want my help in any shape or form, he doesn't even want to talk to me or see me, so why should I bother anymore? I've tried but Steve either doesn't want to listen or just doesn't care so I'm just going to give up on him and me. Why should I bother when Steve clearly doesn't want to?" Emma questioned. Don't worry, I'm not leaving Hawaii. I wouldn't move because of him. I'll just find myself a new boyfriend, someone who has a more stable job and doesn't go around getting arrested for murder like an insurance adjudicator. What do you think Kim? I think it sounds like a plan."

"Sounds like a plan." Kim quipped.

"Your mad and you have every right to Emma but your not looking at the bigger picture, Steve is doing this for a reason. He is trying to protect you!" Danny reasoned.

"Doing this to protect me? From what Danny? What the hell is so bad that Steve feels that he must protect me? And by the way why has Steve taken it upon himself to protect me? I didn't ask him to and I most certainly don't need him to. I'm perfectly fine and he's not even here." Emma stated.

"I can't tell you Em. I wish I could but I can't Steve made me promise not to say a word. I know it's frustrating…"

"You know what it sounds like? It sounds like you are taking Steve's side in all of this. My own brother siding with my locked up boyfriend instead of his own sister. Real nice Danny… Let me what I've noticed about Steve? He doesn't talk. Well of course he talks but he never talks about himself. I barely know anything about his parents and what happened to them, I know a bit about his career and most of that I got from Mary. This whole week I've discovered how frustrating that is. I barely know any personal stuff pertaining to Steve's family and his life but he practically knows everything about me. He knows about you, Harry, George, Olly and Matt! Steve even knows about the car accident, there isn't anything that he doesn't know about so don't talk to me about knowing frustrating!" Emma snapped careful to keep her voice down low as not to wake Harry.

"Em…" Danny quietly said.

"If you won't tell me what's going on and Steve won't have anything to do with me then forget getting any help from me. I'm not helping people who treat me like an idiot or better yet a child who needs to be hidden and protected from the big bad world." Emma hissed.

"You love him Emma." Danny stated.

"And? Both you and I made it clear to Steve when I got involved with him that Harry came first. I love Harry more and I will not have him get caught up in all of this, I did not bring my son here to get attached to another man whose just going to leave him. So whatever it is you need Danny, you had better figure it out without me…"


	31. Chapter 31

"…Steve I am telling you not only for my sake but your own too that you needed to talk to Emma, I said that this ignoring her to protect her and Oz thing was going to blow up in your face and it has. She is furious with you Steve, she can't even have your name mentioned in the house anymore. She doesn't even like me coming around the house because she knows your just going to end up coming up in the conversation…" Danny told Steve as the two of them talked through the telephones and the thick glass that were provided by the prison as past of the visitation system.

"Danny I know that you don't approve of my method and I'm not exactly doing the nicest thing by freezing out Emma but I am doing this to protect her and Oz. Too many people have been hurt already and the last thing I want is something to happen to either of them." Steve said, watching as Danny nodded in agreement. He knew that Danny didn't like this and what he was doing to his sister but he understood why he was doing this. The two of them may not agree on a lot of thins but keeping Emma and Oz safe was one of the rare things that they both happened to agree about.

"I know Steve but from where I'm sitting it's looking like you got the sweet part of this deal." Danny said as he ran a hand through his hair. "She knows that there is more to this than we're letting on and Emma wants answers. The most pressing question on hers and everyone's lips is why were you at the governors mansion that night?"

"You can't tell her Danny, trust me I want to tell her but it's better that we don't tell her right now, not until we bring Wo Fat to justice." Steve replied.

"Yeah that's part of the problem too Steve. When I said we got into it the other day, we really got into it and Emma mentioned several things about you Steve. A big part of it was the fact you don't tell her much about anything, not about what we're up to or about yourself. Stuff like that screams distrust to Emma and it's making her doubt you, she believes that you didn't kill Governor Jameson but everything else she is doubting. Especially the two of you and there's something else too…" Danny began and Steve didn't exactly like the sound of where he was going.

"What is it Danno?"

"She won't help at all. I tried asking her if she could find out what the DA had and Emma flat out refused, well she practically blew a gasket and yelled at me about how she's not risking her career. Em briefly mentioned ethics committees and disbarment but I think she's over reacting, big time." Danny wearily replied.

"I don't want to risk Emma's career and everything she's worked for, that's why insisted on her not getting involved with anything." Steve said, he knew how much Emma loved being a lawyer, even what made her go into law and how she made a bet with her best friend about whether she'd get into Harvard Law or not.

"Speaking of risk and my sister, I'd say you were at risk of losing her but that would be a lie Steve. Em kind of made it sound like, well she pretty much made it clear that the two of you were over and her and she kind of half joked about getting a new boyfriend… There was talk with her and Kim in front of me about an insurance adjudicator as a potential replacement for you."

"Seriously?" Steve questioned.

"Hey! I told you this would all backfire on you and she's be pissed but just be grateful that she hasn't decided to move back to New York, Jersey, D.C. or someone else like Chicago." Danny said brushing off Steve's concern.

"You'd think she'd move back to the mainland?" Steve asked actually sounding worried as he knew Emma tended to move around frequently and that was the last thing that he wanted her to do was actually leave.

Danny shook his head. "No. Oz is settled and as mad as she is with you and everything that is going on right now he's at the forefront of her mind. Em doesn't want to disrupt it as he's settled with friends and he likes it here. But she pretty much said she wasn't going anywhere and insinuated that you weren't a good enough reason to leave. She wants to give him the stability for the first time as the last few years whenever something has happened, she's packed up and left for pastures green."

"True, she didn't leave after what happened with Matt." Steve said feeling quite relieved at the prospect that Emma wasn't going anywhere because if she left Hawaii then it would make it that much harder for him to fix things with her once he got out of here.

"Exactly. As much as I hate to admit it but this pineapple infested hellhole has been good for both my nephew and my sister; you've been good for them both." Danny wirily noted.

"Is this you telling me that you finally approve of me dating your sister?"

"No." Danny quickly retorted. "All I'm saying is that I wouldn't worry about her getting a new boyfriend anytime soon given that she's in love with you for god knows what reasons but then again my sister has always been a little bit odd–"

"–What?" Steve asked interrupting Danny mid stream as he could have sworn he heard him say that Emma was in love with him.

"Yeah. Emma, my little sister is in love with you. She loves you Steven McGarrett, so you better figure out something. I'm not saying to call her and tell her everything but maybe just call her and speak to her for a minute. Just do anything to make her feel like she didn't fall in love with a complete an utter jackass." Danny advised and Steve sighed, that wasn't good news. Well it was because he felt the exact same way, he was in love with Emma but right now at this given time and the situation he was in, it just made things harder. He loved Emma and he wanted to be with her, but not like this. After everything she had been through he didn't want to hurt but in a way he was. The whole thing was messy and complicated.

"How is she? Emma I mean, like overall?" Steve asked, feeling the need to know how Emma was doing given that he hadn't spoken or seen her in days all down to his own doing but that didn't mean he didn't miss her because he did.

"Apart from angry and a constant pain in my ass? She's fine, worried about you although she's pretending like she doesn't care anymore but she's worried but you know Em, she doesn't like anyone knowing when there's something on her mind. Oz and Kim are helping to distract her from everything because things aren't exactly well for her at work at the moment. She got pulled into a meeting with the new governor yesterday but she won't budge about what it was about. If I keep pushing her she'll eventually push me away Steve." Danny replied.

"Then stop. I've forced her to push me away, I don't want her to do the same thing to you Danno as then both of us will be in the doghouse and I'm kind of counting on you to help me get back into your sisters good graces."

Danny scoffed. "Never going to happen. It's everyman for himself when it comes to getting back in Emma's good books so you're on your own McGarrett…"


	32. Chapter 32

Emma stood outside Waiola Shaved Ice and frowned, it wasn't because she was here but rather the manner in which she had been asked here; i.e. a cryptic phone call from Danny asking her to meet him here. It was rather worrying but she knew this had something to do with Steve who had broken out of jail en route to the hospital after getting stabbed and was now on the run. Emma had the feeling that the two of them were connected but she believed that her brother wasn't stupid enough to get her involved in this if he was involved, as Emma had made it obvious that she was risking her career for Steve in the slightest. And then there were several cop cars outside which just made Emma even more nervous.

"Lawyer Lady!" A voice called out and Emma saw Kamekona making his way towards her, Emma actually liked Kamekona despite knowing his rather shady history but he was pretty useful not mention he made great shrimp that both her and Oz adored. "We've been expecting you."

"Really? Is that so Kamekona?" Emma asked in mild surprise and the large bald man just nodded in response before motioning for Emma to follow him. Taking a deep breath Emma ever reluctantly followed Kamekona who then pointed her through his store towards his back room, which seemed to be hosting some little party as there were several people in the hallway.

Emma made her way down the small hallway into the backroom and the first person she saw was Steve, Chin-Ho, some guy she didn't recognize and then Danny. Emma was ready to let out the mother of all lectures, which involved using practically every swear word under the sun. Until her eyes fell on the Lieutenant Governor, who had been acting governonr since Governor Jamesons death and was taking over the office. It was the same governor that Emma had a meeting with only days ago and now she was standing in a room with him along with her boyfriend who had escaped from prison and her brother who was somehow involved and most likely guilty of assisting a wanted fugitive. Emma needed a rather large glass of wine or maybe several shots of tequila as this did not bode well. "Governor Dennings…"

"Deputy Prosecutor Williams." Governor Dennings replied with a small nod.

"Governor Dennings I have no idea what's going on here but I assure you I knew nothing of this and if I had known that my coming here was linked to Lt. Commander McGarrett's escape I would have alerted the police…" Emma said glaring at Danny, she was going to kill him as soon as the governor had left.

"I'm sure you would have, now if you'll all excuse me I have some other business to attend to. I'll leave the rest of you to explain recent developments to the deputy prosecutor." Governor Dennings stated before leaving the room.

"Emma…" Danny began.

"You have some nerve dragging me back into all of this when I distinctively told you that I wanted no involvement in this. And having me turn up whilst the Governor was here whilst your involved in this nonsense? Are you out of your goddamn mind? My boss reports straight to him and I had to have a meeting with him only days ago to assure him that my personal life would not affect my job nor was I involved with this whole thing involving Steve! And drag me into it yet again, I made it clear to you Danny that I would not any of you affecting my career or license and god knows what I'll have to do remedy–"

"Steve's innocent Emma, that's why the Governor was here. We found video evidence at the governor's mansion that proved that Steve didn't kill Governor Jameson and Governor Dennings just watched it. He reinstated Five-0 and he's making sure the charges against Steve are being dropped." Danny explained.

"Em.'" Steve interrupted.

"Shut up McGarrett, I'll get to you when I'm done with Danny!" Emma snapped turning her attention back to Danny. "I knew you were somehow involved in this as soon as I heard about the escape. I prayed to hell that you wasn't involved but I knew you were involved. What the hell are you doing Danny? Harboring a fugitive? Did you learn nothing with the Matt thing because I cannot take something like that happening again and I am pretty sure it would kill mom and dad not to mention Grace and Harry!

"It's not like that Emma." Danny tried to explain.

"Save it Danny, I'm really not interested in anything you've got to say anymore as you've made it pretty clear where your priorities lie as of late. So just don't bother anymore, stay out of my way and don't come around anymore." Emma retorted.

"Emma you don't mean that."

"Yeah I do. I don't want you or your countless amount of lies, rules and law breaking ways in my life anymore. Up until these past week I thought I could trust you Danny but apparently not and I don't want people who I can't trust in my life; it's not good for me and it's definitely not good for Harry." Emma spat.

"I know your mad Emma but don't blame Danny–" Steve began taking a couple of steps towards Emma.

"Oh I do blame you Steve just as much as I blame Danny, you stupid idiot! Breaking into the Governors mansion and then out of prison what on earth were you thinking?!" Emma yelled as she shoved Steve as hard as she could, which caused him to stumble back a few steps but did nothing to remove the smile on his face. "Why are you smiling at me? Because this isn't funny, this is the furthest thing from being funny."

"I'm smiling because I missed you." Steve admitted.

Emma let out a sarcastic scoff. "You missed me? That's a good one because ever since you were arrested and up until this point I have not heard one word from you Steven. I tried to help you and for some reason you just threw it all back in my face without any explanation and like I told Danny I'm done with you, I'm done with the both of you."

"Look I know your mad Emma and I will explain it all to you." Steve said and before Emma could yell at him, he had kissed her which took Emma of guard and made her forget what was going on and why she was so mad. But only for a second and once she regained her senses Emma pushed him away and proceeded to slap Steve.

"You look terrible!" Emma said saying the first things that sprang to her mind.

"I love you too." Steve replied with a cocky smile.

"I-I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, instead I'm going back to work." Emma spluttered in embarrassment as Steve's sudden declaration and the fact that he said I love you too, which meant someone had told him she loved him and Emma's eyes quickly darting over to Danny as she knew that he had some part to play in that before turning around and walking out of the backroom. As she walked out of Waiola Shaved Ice and back over to her car Emma could feel herself shaking with rage. She was majorly pissed off and angry with Danny but not as much as she was with Steve who seemed to think that kissing her and saying he loved her would made everything better. He was sorely mistaken at that.

Steve was not centre of her world nor did Emma need him to make her happy. She lived in Hawaii, which was practically heaven on earth, she loved the job she did, then there was her family although Matt was on the run and her parents and sister were back home in New Jersey and she wasn't talking to Danny anytime in the foreseeable future. But she had Kim, Rachel and Grace all here in Hawaii with her. Most importantly Emma had a beautiful son who was her entire world, so Steve McGarrett could go to hell.


	33. Chapter 33

Steve took a deep breath as he knocked on Emma's door, it had been three days since he had broken out of prison and been proved innocent of Governor Jameson's murder and three days since he had seen Emma. Given how she reacted to seeing him and taking Danny's advice, he had waited a couple of days before going to see her as she was very pissed off with him when they had seen each other. So now here Steve was to explain everything to her, even beg, grovel and plead with Emma to forgive him for what he had in the last week. He knew it wasn't going to be easy as Emma was a Williams and a hell of a lot more stubborn than Danny. The door opened and Steve opened his mouth to immediately start apologizing but stopped when he saw that it wasn't Emma at the door but a woman with brown hair and green eyes who was looking at him with a knowing grin on her face.

"You must be the boyfriend that I've been hearing so much about recently, I have to admit that you look better in person then you do on tv, but then again nobody ever takes a good mugshot not even if they look at you." The woman quipped.

"And you must be the sister in law." Steve figured as he knew Emma's sister in law had come to visit with her family before he was arrested and that she had extend her trip in order to help Emma out. "I'm Steve McGarrett."

"Kim Oswald."

"So is Emma home? I was kind of hoping to talk to her…" Steve asked and as soon as the words came out he saw Kim lean against the door frame and fold her arms and that told him straight away that Kim was not going to let him, at the current moment. Making things right with Emma was going to be a whole lot harder if he couldn't even get through the front door.

"Oh she's in but you've chosen a really bad time to show up as Emma's kind of busy at the minute as it's bath time, Harry's I mean. Then once bath time is over it's story time and tonight's it's Emma's turn to read to Harry as yesterday I read him green eggs and hams. Now you could wait for her to be finished but you'd be waiting for a long time as Emma does not want to see you Steve," Kim told Steve in a rather straightforward manner.

"I know she doesn't Kim but if I just speak to her for a moment and have a chance to explain everything that's gone on in the last week–" Steve began

"Look Steve I don't know you at all, I've just been told stuff like how Emma was dating you and how of much of a nice guy you were until one night she calls me and asks if I can take care of Harry because you've been arrested for murder.

No doubt Danny has given you the big brother speech but I'm going to give you another one. I love Emma very much, she's my best friend as well as my sister in law or rather technically former sister in law. She is the mother of my nephew and she was the love of my brother's life and no doubt you know what happened and how much my brother's death hurt her." Kim said.

"I know Kim."

Kim shook her head. "I'm not finished Steve, she's been through so much these last few years and the adversity only seems to build her character more. Emma is an amazing woman, great lawyer and even better mother. She deserves to be happy Steve and from what I've heard up until this whole frame up job you seem like a good guy but you cannot be messing her around like that. Emma believed that you were innocent this entire time, she called the best defense attorney she knew to defend you and not once did you call her to say thank you or anything…"

"It's very complicated Kim, I was doing all of that to protect Emma. Innocent people were being hurt and the last person I wanted anything to happen to was Emma. I love her and I love Oz…" Steve said and he watched as small smirk tugged in the corner of her mouth and he could see that he was slowly but surely he was getting Kim on his side.

"Well before you can even get through the door to convince Emma of that, you'll have to convince me of that and it's good thing that Hawaii is growing on me especially since my family are here and so I've decided to extend my trip by at least another six months. I get to catch up with Emma and help her to raise my nephew plus the beach is less twenty minutes away so what more can a girl want?" Kim asked.

"I'll wait as long as it takes–" Steve began stopping short when he saw Emma walk up behind Kim.

"Thanks for everything Kim, but I'll take it from here." Emma said with a forced smile as Steve watched as her eyes darted over to him and he could tell she was not happy to see him here.

"You sure?" Kim skeptically asked.

"I'm good and besides Harry is running around with Grover refusing to get into bed unless he gets to play helicopter one last time with his beloved Auntie Kimcub. So you take the hyperactive four year old and I'll deal with the annoying thirty four year old. Trust me this won't take long…" Emma said and Kim nodded before walking over, leaving Emma and Steve to talk. "What do you want Steve?"

"What I've wanted to do for the last couple of days; I want to talk."

"I'm done trying to talk or attempting to talk to you Steve. I gave you several chances and you just threw them back in my face so I just want to get on with my life and focus on career and raising my son neither or which frankly involve you."

"You love me." Steve couldn't help but point out.

"And? You act like that means I'm supposed to instantly forgive you or something, well it doesn't especially after all the stupid and reckless things you've done in the past week. You're a wildcard, you fly by the seat of your pants and are completely unpredictable." Emma stated and Steve couldn't help but chuckle.

"I got you, didn't I?" Steve asked before shaking his head in amusement. "Did we really quote Top Gun to each other?"

"It just came out but I'm right anyway," Emma said and stepped and began to shut her front door but Steve stuck his arm through the door and she just sighed.

"I'm not giving up on us, like I told Kim I'll be here for as long as it takes to get you to hear me out and get you to forgive me Emma. I'm not going anywhere. You can't avoid me forever Emma." Steve stated and Emma just shook her head, Steve knew that she didn't believe him so he was going to prove it to her.

"Watch me." Emma retorted, opening the door slightly so she could push Steve out and moments later she slammed the door but Steve wasn't deterred was from this at all so he got himself settled outside Emma. He was barely there for twenty minutes when a HPD cop car pulled up on the street and two cops made their way towards him. Steve looked at the cops and then at the house in confusion, he hadn't heard any kind of disturbance so he was a bit confused as to why the cops were here.

"Officers, what seems to be the problem?"

"Lt. Commander McGarrett, we've received a call from Deputy Prosecutor Williams asking if we could come and remove you from her property after she had apparently repeatedly ask you to leave…" One of the officers said and Steve just looked back towards the house, he could not believe she had actually called the cops on him. But it had just made him all the more determined to win her back…


	34. Chapter 34

Emma sat in her office at her desk reviewing a case file that never seemed to end, she was taking to court in a couple of days and so she was brushing up on the case so that she would be on top from when it came to trial. She was confident that she was going to win this case but even so, she wanted to go over everything so it was fresh in her mind and so the defense wouldn't try to surprise her with something she may have missed. Desk deep in paperwork Emma was distracted when there was a knock on her door, looking up from her file she saw that it was her friend and occasional opponent Cecile and so she motioned for her to come in. The door opened and in walked Cecile carrying a clear vase that held white tulips who promptly handed them over to Emma.

"These were on their way to you Deputy Prosecutor when I arrived, I was on my way so I figured I'd bring them to you." Cecile began.

"Thank you very much." Emma replied as she took the vase and placed it on a free space on her desk.

"You're not going to see who they're from? You may have a secret admirer" Cecile questioned as she sat herself down on the couch in Emma's office and moments later Emma sat down and joined her friends, she figured it was about time she took a break and what better way to spend her break than to have a catch up with Cecile.

"Oh I know who sent them and trust me it's no secret admirer; it's Steve and I know this without looking at the card because he sent me those roses over there at the start of the day. For some reason he thinks that sending me flowers is going to convince me into talking to him about what happened and forgiving him for it all but he's got another thing coming…" Emma wearily noted.

"Still haven't spoken to him, huh?" Cecile asked.

Emma shook his head. "What is there for me to really say? You push me away and ignore me for the past week claiming that your trying to protect me and won't even explain what you're trying to protect me from? I don't like secrets Cecile and I thought Steve knew that as I have told him pretty much everything; there has no been one thing that I have kept from here."

"I doubt this will give you much reassurance given that I can't tell you anything because of the whole attorney client privilege but let me word in as best I can. I know it's hard for you not knowing but given what I know, Steve was only doing what he thought was best for you and Harry. It wasn't because he was being stubborn and didn't want you to help him because of some male pride. Now don't' take this the wrong way but as your friend I believe he was doing what he thought was the right thing to do." Cecile said and Emma just sighed, Cecile was right. It didn't make her feel much better.

"Those are beautiful flowers, that much Steve knows about me." Emma noted. "He came over to the house, tried to speak to me but he ran into my sister in law before I decided to talk to him momentarily…"

"And what happened?" Cecile asked.

"Cliff notes version? I lectured him for a couple of minutes, slammed the door in his face and then called the cops when he didn't leave."

"You called the cops on him and he's still trying to get your attention? You got to give it to Steve, he does not give up." Cecile chuckled and Emma couldn't help but lazily roll her eyes, only Cecile would be encouraged and amused by Steve's behaviour. But she did have a point Steve certainly was relentless.

"Hmm…" Emma murmured in agreement.

"If you don't want him, you can certainly send Steve my way."

"He told me he loved me. The day that he escaped from prison and the charges were dropped as Danny found the evidence that proved Steve's innocence. I was brought to where Steve had been hiding out and once him and Danny explained that the charges had been dropped, he said it. Steve told me he loved me, as if it was the easiest thing for him to say and not like he was telling me for the first time." Emma revealed and she was surprised by the lack of surprise on Cecile's face. Normally news like this would have sent her friend in a tailspin.

"I could have told you that Emma as it was pretty damn obvious the way that he feels about you Emma, I know he messed things up but he is a great guy…" Cecile firmly stated.

"I know he's a great guy Cecile and it's not just because of how he looks… He's not put off by the baggage I have, you know most guys wouldn't want to date a woman who has a four year old kid but for some reasons Steve is here even with the dead husband and best friend and my insane family but–"

"But what? He made a mistake Emma, you stick him in the doghouse and make sure Steve learns not to be so stupid next time."

"What if I were to tell you that I thought I was pregnant?" Emma announced and she could see Cecile processing this tidbit of information in her head. It was a lot to process so Emma waited patiently for Cecile to get over the initial shock, which took less time then she expected.

"You thought you were pregnant?" Cecile asked as she eyes wondered down briefly to Emma's stomach.

"Yeah as my period was very late and by that I mean four very long days later and the idea that I was pregnant was there in the back of my mind up until yesterday afternoon, when I eventually started. I realize now that it was all the stress of what was going on with Steve and work that most likely made me late. However at the time I was thinking how the hell could I have another child when their father is ignoring me for the confines of jail and I already have a four year old."

"Emma…"

"Before I met Steve I was content with how my life was, well I had just lost my best friend but everything in my life was okay. There was Harry who is the centre of my world and the best thing that has ever happened to me, I had my job in New York and I had my insane but loveable family. I never thought about falling in love again after George or having another child and the idea of raising two children by myself was something that scares me. Don't get me wrong Cecile, I love being a mom and I love Steve but this ordeal made me realize that I am not ready to have another child especially with Steve as he is the kind of guy who leaps without looking and that worries me. I did that once with George and it was hard and whilst it wasn't fair to me, it's certainly not fair to Harry. We've both lost so many people and as much as I'm mad with Steve, I really don't want to lose him…" Emma wearily said.

"Then you tell him how you feel, be mad with him all you like Emma as you certainly have the right to be after what you've gone through this last week but promise me you'll talk to him."

"I promise."


	35. Chapter 35

On his way out from a meeting with Governor Dennings, Steve had overheard two cops talking about an incident that had happened in the courthouse just over an hour ago. At first Steve wasn't paying to much attention to the two cops were talking about how a deputy prosecutor was attacked in court by the defendant. That was until he heard the name, Steve actually stopped in his steps when he heard one cop say that it was Deputy Prosecutor Williams who had been attacked. Fear and worry instantly struck Steve and he immediately pulled out his phone to call Emma, The phone just rang and rang until it finally went to voicemail which didn't do anything positive for Steve. It just made him worry all the more so he made his way to his car and at first Steve didn't know where first to look for Emma, he wasn't sure whether or not she was in the hospital. Although he did realize that if it was that serious Emma would have called Danny who in turn would have called him and he had no messages or missed calls from his partner. Steve figured that safest place to start looking for Emma was probably at her office so he drove over to the county prosecutors office, where he found Emma in her office alone.

"Hey… What are you doing here?" Emma asked clearly surprised to see him and Steve could tell that for once in the last ten days she wasn't annoyed in the slightest to see him. She actually seemed glad to see him and without saying anything Steve walked over to Emma and kissed her. Steve didn't care whether Emma would slap him for doing something that bold whilst she was still mad with him, he was just glad as hell that she was okay for the most part. "Steve what's wrong?"

"Are you okay?" Steve asked as he looked Emma over to see if she had been hurt in any shape or form and she had been. Steve could see bruises starting to form on her neck which didn't look too nice but other than that she seemed fine and Steve couldn't see any more injuries.

"You heard about what happened…" Emma slowly stated.

"Are you okay?" Steve repeated as he gently traced over Emma's neck with his thumb careful not to cause her any pain or discomfort, he needed to know that she was okay, to hear Emma say out loud to him that she was okay before he went about finding out who had laid their hands on her.

"I'm fine Steve."

Steve didn't believe Emma in the slightest given the bruises round her neck and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that her injuries were a result of someone putting their hands round their neck in an attempt to strangle her. So Steve couldn't really believe Emma when she said she was fine given that it looked like someone had attempted to kill her or at least cause her serious harm. "You don't look it Em, what happened?"

"I'm currently at trial… I'm prosecuting this big drug dealer that HPD have been trying to take down for just over a year now anyway I was cross examining him and it just kind of went from there. One second I'm asking the defendant how his mother feels about having a son who sells drugs and ruins families for a living and then the next thing I knew he hand his arms round my neck…" Emma grimly noted "The Judge stopped the trial and had my lovely drug dealer detained and we resume the day after tomorrow. My boss heard about what happened and asked if I wanted to hand the case over to another prosecutor but I turned him down. After what happened today it's made me even more determined to finish this…"

"Em is that such a good idea? This drug deal strangled you in open court…"

"Steven let it go, look I love you for worrying and coming down to check and see if I'm okay but there was no need as I'm fine. Stuff like this occasionally happens as I spend my days putting murders, rapists and various other criminals away. I'm fully aware of the potential risks in this job and if I ever thought that a case I was prosecuting was putting me and my family at risk then I back away. I know what today has freaked you out and I'll admit that I'm a bit spooked too but I'm okay." Emma attempted to assure him but Steve wasn't convinced by this although Emma did just say that she still loved him so that was an upside for him to dwell on later.

"Can you blame me for worrying? You get attacked during court and I don't hear about it from you. I have to find out from other people…" Steve replied.

"I get it Steve I honestly do because every day I get up knowing that there is a chance that one day I may receive a call telling me that either you or Danny have been hurt or worse killed. I've gone through that ordeal once and it wasn't nice but I'm going to ask for either of you to stop doing what you're doing given that you and Danny are both dedicated to your jobs and you took a vow to serve and protect. I'm sorry for not calling, I just didn't want to worry anyone and make a big fuss about it. I just forget about it and move on." Emma said before attempting to walk away but Steve wasn't going to let her get away so he grabbed her hand.

"If we're going to move on from this then we're going to have to sit down and talk about what happened." Steve said referring to him being arrested for the former governors murder and everything that came with that including how he pushed Emma away because of how he wanted to protect her. But they also needed to talk about how she practically drop kicked him out of her life and the cold treatment he had been receiving despite his numerous attempts to fix things between them. Steve watched as Emma took a couple of steps back but she still held on to his hand as she let out a weary sigh.

"I know we do…"

"Can you come over to mine once your done here?" Steve asked and for a moment he had thought that he may have gone a bit too quickly with things given by the frown on Emma's face. But seconds later the frown disappeared and Emma slowly nodded which Steve took as a good, it showed that they weren't broken but rather just bent and he could fix this.


	36. Chapter 36

Steve was a man of patience, well you had to have patience to be in the navy but right now he felt a bit on edge. Emma had agreed to come over so they could talk about recent events and Steve knew it wasn't going to be a pretty conversation but he missed Emma and he wanted to fix things between the two of them. Steve had come to realize that by keeping Emma away during everything with the Governor's murder and his brief time in prison he had been pushing her away. It hadn't been intentional, Steve had only been keeping Emma away from this all to protect her and it had kind of worked a bit too well. More than Steve would have liked and now he was working on winning her trust back, which he was certain would be as difficult as he originally thought it would be only hours ago. Despite being relatively pissed off with him Steve was pretty sure Emma glad to see him turn up at her office after hearing about her being attacked in court. The doorbell going off signaled Emma's arrival and getting up from his father's desk Steve made his way to the living room and crossed the room and opened the door and there was Emma.

"Hey…" Steve began.

"Hi." Emma replied with a weary smile as she tucked a loose piece of her blonde hair behind her ear and Steve could tell that she was nervous, probably just as much as he was.

"Come on in." Steve said inviting Emma in to the house and once she was inside he shut the door and then it was just the two of them standing in his living room in a somewhat awkward silence. They both knew why they were here yet it didn't change how uncomfortable the situation was so Steve decided to make a little small talk with Emma before they got onto the inevitable heavy stuff. "How's Harry?"

"Great, he's been asking about George as of late as it's his birthday in a few days so Kim is going to take him out for the day and talk about George. Kim knows more about his father than I ever did so I'm happy that Harry can spend time with his aunt and be able talk about George. Other than that Harry is his normal happy and sweet self although he is no doubt getting up to no good tonight with his Uncle Danny whose babysitting." Emma explained with a bigger smile on her face, Steve knew he probably shouldn't have used Harry to help Emma ease up but he knew nothing brought a genuine smile to Emma's face than talking about her pride and joy; her son.

"I miss him."

The smile on Emma's face faltered. "He misses you too, Harry doesn't understand what's going on but then again neither do I. I am in as much of the dark as my four year old son. All I know is that you somehow ended up in the Governor's mansion, she was killed by somebody else, you get charged with Governor's murder and you end up at county before finally escaping and you try and act like everything is fine when you've been ignoring me for the entire time Steve."

"Emma I know I've got a lot to explain and you've got every reason to be mad with me but I need you to trust me when I say I was doing this to protect you Emma. I never meant to hurt you, I just thought I was doing what I thought was best." Steve attempted to explain.

"Steven I am not five years old, I am thirty one years old and I do not need protecting. I don't know what is about me that you and Danny think you need to mollycoddle me constantly but it's annoying as hell. I am not Harry, I don't believe that there are monsters under my bed and I need my mom to look under it every night. I am a grown woman, I know that there are bad things and people in the world, which is why I do the job that I do. I let you into my life Steve, mine and my child's life. I let see everything, the good and the bad. I let myself fall in love with you and I trusted you Steve and I was silly enough to think you felt the same about me." Emma angrily stated.

"I do Emma. I love you and I want to be with you, I make things right with us which is why I asked you to come over tonight. You told Danny that I don't talk about things with you and honesty is something that I've been lacking and your right. I've lied to you and I did all of this without talking to you when you should have. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping you out of all of this, I thought by keeping you at arms length that I was protecting you. I never wanted to hurt you Emma, I just wanted you safe. So much has happened to you and I just have this instinct to protect you as yours and Harry's safety matters to me the most but I now know that part of keeping you safe is being honest with you. So I'm going tell you everything but I need you to trust me." Steve said holding out his hand towards Emma.

"Are you seriously asking me to trust you after everything?" Emma skeptically asked and Steve couldn't blame Emma for being so weary of him given everything he had done recently and what he had put her through. But to be fair to him, it was all to find out who was behind his mother's death and prove his own innocence in the governor's murder but he needed Emma to understand that.

"I know it's a lot but I promise I'm going to explain everything." Steve replied and ever reluctantly Emma handed her hand and Steve led her though the living room and over to his father's desk where the champ toolbox was sitting and waiting. "My father was murdered by Victor Hesse an arms dealer I had been chasing for a couple of years. The day my father died I got a call from him and he called me champ. My dad had never called me champ in my life. It lead me to this toolbox…" Steve slowly began as he let go off Emma's hand, Steve opened the toolbox and handed Emma the postcards from Japan. "It turns out my father was conducting a secret investigation as he couldn't trust HPD, my father was investigating numerous things including my mother's murder."

"I thought your mother died in car accident." Emma slowly said.

"So did I but she wasn't, she was murdered and my father was investigating it and he kept everything in this toolbox. I figured that he wanted me to finish what he started." Steve explained and Emma nodded ass she slid of her jacked and placed it on a chair, Steve could tell by the look in her eyes that she was fully invested in what he was saying.

"This toolbox of your fathers I'm assuming that it's connected to what happened?"

"Yeah and I'll get to how this toolbox landed me in prison but I've got to fill in the gaps, during the course of the investigation the contents toolbox was stolen but luckily Mary had taken photographs of everything when she had been snooping around. That was a big help although I started getting anonymous packages and each package contained a piece of evidence from the toolbox. During this time I found out that a member of the local yazuka, a Hiro Noshimuri was connected to Governor Jameson and the day I arrested him, his brother was killed in a car accident similar to the one my mother was killed in." Steve explained as he watched Emma take a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh Steve…" Emma softly said as she put the postcards back down in the toolbox.

"I know this is a lot Em but I want you to know the truth. When I first looked into the toolbox I found this small gold key and I tried it in every lock in this house and it didn't fit. I discovered where the key led to the day Laura Hills was killed."

"Laura Hills? Governor Jameson's assistant? How is she connected to this?" Emma couldn't help but ask and Steve waited a moment before he answered.

"Because Laura was the one sending me back the evidence that was stolen from the toolbox and I found this out when Danny and I searched her house and I found the gold key again. It turns out it opens a desk in the governor's mansion which is why I was there the night I got arrested and this whole thing blew up. I knew I couldn't go to the governor about it so I decided to break in and I found evidence that showed the Governor had found out that Laura was sending me the evidence back." Steve stated and he watched as Emma burrowed her brows together.

"Are you telling me that the Governor was responsible for what happened to Laura?"

"Yes, with help from a man named Wo Fat whose associated with the yazuka and the person who ordered the death of my parents. He was also the one who tasered me, shot Governor Jameson and then framed me for it." Steve finished and he waited for a response from Emma but she didn't say a thing, she was deadly quiet. Which he knew wasn't a good thing as when Emma was silent and didn't respond it meant she was bottling something up inside. "Em? Talk to me Emma."

"I feel so bad now, all this time I've been so mean to you and accusing you of doing all this stuff when all you were trying to do was find the people who killed your parents. I'm really sorry Steve, for everything…" Emma said and Steve couldn't stand the sad look on her face so he took a few steps closer to Emma and placed his hands on either side of her face. Emma didn't flinch, she didn't move in fact she actually seemed to relax into his embrace.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about. I don't blame you for anything Emma, you tried to help me when all of this was blowing up which I really appreciate. I should have said that, I should have explained what was going on at the time but I was just trying to protect. I know that you can take care of yourself, as you are one of the strongest people I know. I really did just want to keep you safe but I still managed to hurt you Em. I'm sorry." Steve firmly stated as he wanted Emma to know that she never needed to be sorry for anything. This wasn't her fault and it wasn't his fault wither for the most part, it was all Wo Fat.

"I-I was so scared that I was going to lose you when you were arrested and it terrified me Steve to the point that I was too scared to admit how I really felt and it turned you were guilt. Despite the fact that you didn't do it, I was just scared that if I admitted how I felt everything would hurt even more, even after you had been exonerated. I'm always scared that I'm going to lose you Steve, it was why I was acting the way I was…" Emma wearily said as Steve had to brush away the tiniest hint of tears before moving his hands away from Emma's face and pulling her into a tight hug.

"I don't want to lose you either Em, it's why I'm always trying to protect you. I kno you don't need me to but I like doing it as I always want you around. I don't want you and Harry to go anywhere. I love you both." Steve admitted as Emma needed to hear that, she needed to hear him being serious about his feelings for her and know that he was serious about having her and Harry in his life. "I'm just hoping this insurance adjudicator hasn't already taken my place."

Emma couldn't help but laugh as she pulled away so she could just see Steve. "I just said that because I knew Danny would tell you that. I was really mad but there is nobody else for me. There's nobody who could compete with you Steve"

"I'm glad to know that."

"Since we're being honest with each other then I should tell you something, whilst you were in prison being a bit of a douchebag in order to protect me. I had a bit of a pregnancy scare." Emma announced and that was the last thing that Steve was expecting to hear and his eyes couldn't help but wonder briefly down to Emma's stomach for a second.

"Oh…" Steve eventually said.

"Yeah I thought I was possible pregnant for a few days and it freaked me out given that I was super pissed with you at the time and you were in prison but I'm not pregnant which is kind of a relief as I don't think we're ready for that. Not to mention it's been a pretty intense since we met, we've both had things going on in our lives and a baby would just complicate things." Emma slowly said as if to check that they were on the same wavelength and Steve completely agreed with her. Although he couldn't help but ponder the idea of him settling down with Emma and having a family with her and Oz. It didn't seem like a to bad of an idea the more Steve thought about it.

"Maybe someday." Steve lightly tossed out.

"Danny would love that." Emma sarcastically replied and Steve couldn't help but chuckle, his partner had barely accepted the fact that he was seeing his sister. If Steve had got Emma pregnant, Danny's head would have no doubt exploded at the idea of mini pac men or ms pac women. The more Steve thought about it, the more he liked the possibility of having kids with Emma and it wasn't just because he knew that it would annoy Danny to no ends. Especially because if Steve ever took that step with Emma, he's make an honest women out of her first which would make him Danny's brother in law.

"I would have been there for you if you were pregnant, you and the baby along with Oz. I just want you to know that Em, I wouldn't have let you go through that alone." Steve said, feeling the need to let Emma know that he would have supported her without a doubt if she had been pregnant. She needed to know he would have been there for and Steve wanted Emma to know that he was open to the whole family thing as he knew that Emma and Harry were a package deal.

"I know that Steven as no matter what you are always here for me."


	37. Chapter 37

Slowly opening her eyes, it took Emma a few moments for her eyes to adjust and realize that not only was she not in her bedroom but she wasn't alone either. There was a warm and firm arm wrapped around her waist and it didn't take her long to realize that it was Steve given that she was in his bedroom. Emma couldn't believe that the two of them had ended up here, she had come over last night so the two of them could talk and resolve things and clearly they had done that and more. Glancing over at the alarm clock Emma saw that it was half six, she needed to get up and sort herself up before going to get Harry, who was probably still over at Danny's. Then there was the matter of getting Harry to Pre-K and Emma going to work and she really wasn't in the mood to be going into work today. But she had no choice in the matter, she was a single mom with a small child to support so Emma had to go to work. Emma glanced over her shoulder where Steve was still soundly sleeping before trying in vain to see where her clothes were but they weren't there and Emma couldn't quietly groan. She was going to have to find a t-shirt of Steve's to put on in order to find her clothes, so she could get dressed and go home and actually get ready for the day as there was no way she could turn up at the office wearing yesterday's clothes which were no doubt all crumpled and creased. As quietly as she could Emma attempted to slide out of the bed without waking Steve.

"Don't even think about it Williams." Steve murmured as he pulled Emma back closer to him and pressed against her shoulder, Emma should have known better to think that she could sneak out with out Steve knowing. The man was practically a ninja except for his affinity for army pants.

"I have to go to work, we have to go to work." Emma said as she continued to try and pull away but Steve just kept a firm hold around Emma's waist and peppered short kisses down her neck and Emma was so tempted to give in. To stay here in bed with Steve all day but she had to be firm about this, she could not allow Steve to convince her to stay with those blue eyes of his. It was how Emma got here in the first place and it was going to be hard for Emma to get away as Steve was holding her so close and she could feel his solid warmth as he nestled her in closer.

"Call in sick."

Emma couldn't help but laugh as she turned over in bed order to face Steve, he seemed to be an answer to everything and an awfully cocky grin on his face despite how early it was in the morning. It was very amusing but Emma wasn't going to change her mind about this. Her and Steve had sorted everything out, there was no more secrets anymore and everything was laid out of the table for them

"If we do that, then who would catch all the criminals and who would prosecute them Steven? It's not like we have simple office jobs Steve, we both have a responsibility to the state of Hawaii but nice try Lt. Commander. I really need to go home, I'm not even supposed to be here, we were only supposed to talk."

"And we did talk Em, we got everything out in the open and then we decided that we needed to make up several times." Steve responded and Emma couldn't help but smile, despite her best efforts not to. This is not how she imagined the night going when she agreed to come over and talk to Steve about everything that had happened. But Emma was kind of glad things ended up this way although she wouldn't admit this out loud to Steve, it was like things were back on track and yet different and better at the same time. The two of them knew where they stood with each other and they had seemed to progress a little further. Emma couldn't believe how well it went with Steve about the whole pregnancy scare situation; it was not the awkward situation she was expecting it to be. They had even brought up having kids one day and although it was in a jokey manner, Emma knew Steve was being serious about it. They seemed serious enough about each other that Emma wasn't scared about having a future with Steve.

"All your saying is that we both have no self control." Emma retorted with a small laugh but she soon got quickly distracted when her eyes met Steve for a moment and a smile couldn't help but appear on her face just as Steve kissed her. A slow, sweet and deep kiss, Emma had to fight back a groan as she recalled this was exactly how she and Steve ended up where they were now. Last night he had kissed her and things had just gone from there, pretty much like they always did. There was something about Steve McGarrett that made everything seem less scary, made Emma feel less alone and she always wanted him around as every touch seemed to send shivers up her spine.

"I like having you stay over." Steve quietly said after he pulled away, placing a chaste kiss against Emma's lips before peppering light kisses down her jaw line, towards her neck.

"I bet you do especially you just got out of prison." Emma couldn't help but quip and Steve rewarded her by rolling Emma over so she was laying back on her back and he was on top of her, careful not to put all his weight on her. And Emma couldn't help but shriek in amusement as this whole thing was rather entertaining.

"Well naturally but I meant that I like waking up and having you here with me." Steve clarified and Emma smiled as she raised her arm and delicately placed her fingers on her jaw. She never thought that she'd fall in love again after losing George but here Emma was with a man who loved her and always wanted to protect her. Steve accepted Emma despite her flaws, baggage and her four year old son and he was still here. Ever since the two of them had met there had been a connection between the two of them and so much had happened and Steve hadn't walked away despite the fact any sane man who have taken off months ago. Emma didn't know what she had done to deserve Steve McGarrett and she didn't want him to go anywhere, even more so after she found out all that he had done to protect her these last few months. Sure Steve had been keeping things and lying to her, Emma had been very mad but now she understood he was only doing what he thought was best to protect her.

"I like being here." Emma slowly admitted as she wrapped her arms around Steve's neck and pulled him closer to her. Steve's plan to keep her here was seemingly starting to work as Emma wasn't in such a rush to leave in order to get ready for work anymore.

"Then why don't you stay here with me instead of going away, I'm sure your boss will understand if you want to take a couple of days off considering what happened…" Steve began and Emma could see what Steve was trying to do now in order to convince her to stay.

"I'm fine Steve." Emma simply said as she watched Steve glance down at the bruises around her neck, no doubt they were a particularly ugly shade of purple. Emma had to admit that it had been a pretty scary moment when the criminal she was prosecuting managed to lean over and wrap his hands round her neck to begin strangling her. Scariest moment over Emma's career but she didn't want it to hang over her shoulders, she didn't want people mollycoddling her as she just wanted to get on with her life and job.

"Em…" Steve slowly began but Emma quickly silenced him by kissing Steve, she didn't want to talk about what happened yesterday and Steve did so Emma decided to distract him from the conversation. It was a bit manipulative but Emma figured that Steve wouldn't mind in the slightest given the way he was responding to her kiss. Not to mention he was getting what he had wanted this entire time, for her to stay.

"How about we stop talking altogether?" Emma quietly suggested as her dark brown eyes looked into Steve's beautiful light blue eyes. In that moment nothing mattered to Emma more than the look on Steve's face, the look in his eyes that conveyed love, happiness and more importantly overwhelming desire.

"I think I can do that."


	38. Chapter 38

It was a nice and beautiful day in Hawaii but that wasn't really on the forefront of Steve's mind as he stood in front of a very nice and not to mention expensive school. Summer had come to an end and today was Harry's first day of kindergarten and Steve was accompanying Emma who was the one actually taking Harry to school, over the last couple of months Emma had known this day was coming but when it came she was having a little time letting go. So Steve had offered to come with Emma in order to be supportive as she was slightly apprehensive about the whole thing. Whilst it wasn't the first time Harry had been away from her as he had been in Pre-K or with a part time nanny or relatives before, this time he was starting school. It was clear to Steve that Emma was nervous, worried and excited about the whole prospect of Harry starting to school was very overwhelming for her as she was fidgeting with her one free hand and giving off a rather tense vibe despite the bright smile on her face. Whilst Steve wasn't a parent, he had a good idea about what was going on inside Emma's head as he was well aware that his girlfriend doted on her only child. Everything Emma did and everything she had done was all for Harry and Steve was ready to be there for her when the inevitable waterworks came as she let her son go. In the last few months ever since the whole prison incident the three of them had become quiet closer and Steve found himself to be a regular fixture in not only Emma's life but Harry's too, to the point where Danny had finally but rather begrudgingly gave his blessing to Steve about dating his baby sister.

"Okay bud, have you got everything? Your backpack and lunch?" Steve asked and Harry nodded enthusiastically, it seemed like he was raring to go it was just a matter of his mother who seemed a little reluctant to let him go.

"You sure you want to do this Harry? You know that you don't have to go today if you don't want to, we can go home and hang out for a bit and come back tomorrow if your feeling a little scared. It's okay if you're feeling a bit nervous…" Emma assured her son and it was clear to Steve that Emma just wasn't ready for this day as she bent down so that she was closer to Harry's height. Steve watched the mother and son duo, everyone said that despite the fact that Emma and Harry shared the same blonde hair and dark eyes, Harry really took after his father. But Steve didn't quite believe that as Harry and Emma had similar habits like how they both scrunched up their noses when they didn't like something such as now. Harry was scrunching up his little at his mother's suggestion that he not start school today.

"I want to go to school momma! Please momma I want to go!" Harry pleaded and Steve couldn't help but notice Emma's eyes soften.

"I know you do Harry… Mommy just can't believe that this day has come, it seems like only yesterday that you were this little tiny and perfect baby that needed me for everything. But your not a baby anymore Harry, you're my beautiful big boy and I know you are going to have lots of fun and make plenty of new friends. You know that daddy would have done anything to have been here today, right?" Emma questioned and Steve couldn't help but watch the conversation in interest at the mention of her deceased husband. It had been the three year anniversary of George's death in June and Emma had gotten through it surprisingly very well. As much as the pain of losing George would always hurt Emma and Harry, they were both looking towards their future in Hawaii and Steve was fully invested in being apart of their futures.

"I know momma." Harry replied before taking a step forward and wrapping his small arms around his mother's neck for a hug.

"I love you so much Harry."

"I love you more momma."

"Not possible." Emma murmured before letting go of her son and pulling back slightly so she could look at him properly. "Okay so you have your backpack and your lunch, now I put my card in your bag and I also put Uncle Danno's card inside too along. The school also have Aunt Kimcub's number too, if there any problems, you need anything or just want me to come and pick you up then you know where my card is and just ask a teacher if they can call me and I will come straight away to pick you up–"

"–We both will." Steve corrected and it caused Emma to smile, he knew how important this day was to Emma. She had taken the day off work so she could be the one to take Harry to school and pick him. Because of her job Emma worked a lot of hours and she couldn't be there for everything like school plays and trips like she wanted to. But Emma tried and Steve could not fault her on how she much of a good mother she was as she put the needs of her son first and even they she could always be there, Emma was trying to be there for the important milestones like today. It was very important not just for Emma but also for Harry for his mother to be the one to take him to his first day of school and also pick him up.

"Will you pick me up?" Harry questioned.

"Well I've got to work bud but your mom will be here." Steve stated and Emma just nodded in agreement.

"I will be standing outside your classroom waiting for you when school ends and we will have lots of fun, I promise." Emma assured before taking a deep breath as it was time for her to say goodbye. "Okay, are you ready to go in?"

"Yes momma, bye Steve." Harry said as he moved away from his mother and moved towards Steve and motioned for him to bend down. Expecting what was coming Steve bent down and hugged the small child and there was this familiar swell in his heart as Harry showed a clear sign of affection towards him. Despite the fact that Harry was not his own son, Steve couldn't help but love him like he was and it wasn't just because of the fact that Harry was Emma's son. Harry was this genuinely sweet kid who adored his family and never failed to make him laugh, not to mention he took to Hawaii like a fish took to water. A far cry from his Uncle Danno.

"Bye champ." Steve replied as he watched Harry walk away hand in hand with Emma to his new class. Steve knew that this was an important moment for Emma and Harry so he didn't want to intrude on that moment. Especially since Emma needed to do this by herself as she needed to having to go through key moments of Harry's life without George being there. Steve stood about the fancy school that was being paid for by Harrys' grandparents until Emma came back, she wasn't crying but she certainly looked teary eye and when she was in reaching distance Steve pulled her in close to him

"Thank you I really needed that."

"You okay?"

"No. I cannot believe that my baby boy is all grown up, starting school and will be turning five next month. I remember when Harry was born and I heard him cry for the first time and something just struck a chord in my heart. I had been carrying him for nine months and I knew I was going to eventually have a baby and be a mom but when I heard him cry it changed everything. Just from that single wail I knew that he belonged to me, that he was my son and I would do anything for him. I just can't believe how fast time had flown by." Emma murmured quietly and Steve brushed the back of Emma's head, he could feel her anxiety getting less intense and she seemed to be dealing with this better than he had expected. Then again she was one of the most strongest people he knew.

"If you were like this for his first day of school I can't wait to see what your like on the day Harry graduates high school and we watch him collect his diploma." Steve couldn't help but note and Emma wearily laughed.

"I'll probably be an even bigger wreck and you'll still find this all funny."

"I can't wait." Steve replied with a huge grin, a few months ago after the whole prison situation, him and Emma had discussed their future and Steve had made it pretty clear that he was here for the long run. Steve hadn't been one to think about his future too much as just over a year ago he had be had been content with his life in the navy but things had changed. Having a future with Emma and Harry was something that he really wanted and making the occasionally comment about him and Emma in the far off future and having her respond so positively towards it was great. But he was in no rush at the moment.


	39. Chapter 39

Six shots. That's what Steve heard ringing in the air, one right after the other and causing panic straight away, people were running all over the place outside the courthouse in state of panic. But not Steve, drawing his gun out it's holster he followed the sound in which the gunshots had come from. They had come from opposite the courthouse, from the street and Steve caught sight of an old beat up buick that started speeding away and he started to run after it. Steve ran but even before he reached the top of the street, the car was screeching away, getting further away until it disappeared out of sight. Steve looked all around, he was pretty sure that this had been some kind of drive by shooting and the shooter was no doubt in the car but he had to be sure. He scanned the front of the courthouse around to see if there was anyone else suspicious hanging around but he couldn't spot anything. Most people had run for cover when the shooting had happened and even if there was anyone suspicious or involved hanging around, they were probably long gone. Holstering his gun, Steve headed back over to the entrance of the courthouse to where the shots had been directed and he could hear someone yelling for help. Yelling for someone to call an ambulance and running over to help, Steve was taken aback. Steve was stunned by what he saw as none of his training had ever prepared him for what was laid out right in front of him. Three people had been shot, two of them were minor. One had taken a bullet to the arm, another one was dead. Steve could see that straight away despite people attempting to do CPR. Then the last person… It was Emma. She had been one of the people shot. Pushing past the people who had gathered around, Steve made his way to Emma and once he had, he dropped to his knees and motioned for the person who was trying to take care of Emma to get out of his way.

"Hey babe…" Steve began giving Emma a reassuring smile as he took over placing pressure of her wound, from what he could see Emma had been shot in the middle section of her chest. On her left side but Steve couldn't tell whether the bullet had been a through and through as there seemed to be blood everywhere. Steve was no doctor but he had seen his fair share of gunshot wounds, even been shot a few times himself and given Emma's wound, the bullet could have hit either her liver or her kidney.

"Steve." Emma muttered and Steve could see the panic in her eyes, no doubt she hadn't seen this coming. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Steve had come here to surprise Emma and take her out for lunch, to do something that a normal boyfriend would do. Since her birthday was soon approaching, the last few months they had their ups and downs so Steve wanted to make a big effort for Emma's birthday. To try and show her how much she meant to him, as words weren't enough. He wanted to show Emma the amount in which he cared for her. Steve didn't expect to come across this, or be by Emma's side whilst she could be bleeding to death right in front of him.

"Don't talk Em, everything will be okay… You are going to be fine." Steve told Emma looking her dead straight in the eye, so she would believe him. So she wouldn't freak out and get her blood pressure up or worse go into shock. Keeping Emma calm and relax was important at the moment until the paramedics got here as she needed to go to the hospital. Steve wasn't a doctor, Emma was going to need surgery because this wasn't serious. This wasn't an instance he could do one of his patch up jobs to hold for a few hours until he was ready to go to the hospital. Emma needed a doctor and she needed one now. "Somebody call an ambulance!"

"It hurts." Emma whimpered and Steve could feel his heart skidding around in his chest, years of training had meant that he could keep a level head in intense situations. Steve was trying to put all those years of training into practice but this wasn't some covert mission, where he could put his emotions to the side so he could do his work to the best of his ability without any emotional complications. This wasn't like that as it was emotional for him. He was in a situation that was emotional compromising as he was trying to keep his girlfriend, the woman he lived alive after she had been shot. Emma was scared, she was terrified and in a lot of pain, Steve could see that in her eyes. Steve could never admit this out loud but he was scared as well.

"I know it does, I have to keep put pressure on it but you are doing so good Em." Steve stated as he kept putting direct pressure on the wound with his hands to help stem blood, there was still blood coming from somewhere. Steve couldn't remember the last time that he had ever felt so helpless before. He was doing his best but it didn't seem to be enough. If he could, he would have picked Emma up and carried her to his truck to drive her to the hospital but he knew if he did that, there was a good chance that she could bleed out. He couldn't move her. Steve was worried about what would happen if he attempted that and he wasn't going to risk Emma's life like that. They would wait for an ambulance.

"Harry…" Emma quietly moaned as groaned in pain and Steve wanted to do something, anything to make her feel better. He wanted to take her hand or gently stroke her cheek. Just something to provide her with the tiniest bit of comfort but right now he couldn't as his hands were otherwise preoccupied with covering her wound.

"Once we get you to a hospital and have the doctors take care of you, we'll have him brought down. Don't worry about it Em, I'll call Kim or I will go and pick him up myself and bring him to you." Steve assured Emma with a small smile before glancing over to the other victims, the guy who had taken a bullet to the arm seemed fine enough. People were taking care of him, security from the courthouse had arrived and were taking over, which meant Steve could just focus on Emma.

"T-That's not what I'm talking about Steve." Emma replied with a small cough and Steve knew where this was heading and he didn't like it one bit. This wasn't going to happen, they were not going to do this as Emma wasn't going to die. Whatever she had to say about what would happen to Harry in her death could wait as Steve wasn't going to let her die.

"We're not doing this Em, we are not having this conversation because you're going to be fine. You are not die, you are not dying on me Emma as I am not letting you go so easily, not after I just got you back. S whatever it is you want to say, I don't care because I am not listening to any of it. That can wait until after your better because your not dying today Emma." Steve instructed because the way Emma was going on, sounded like she was getting ready to lay out her final wishes and say goodbye like she was never going to see him again. Steve refused to let Emma give up so easily as she had survived so much more than this. Emma had survived losing her husband, then her best friend then all the trouble with Matt. She had survived all of that so Steve knew she could survive this. Emma was the strongest women he knew and she couldn't die, not like this and not today. She had too much to live for.

"S-Steven… If you love me, the way I think you do then you will just this once do as I say without arguing." Emma pleaded as she placed her hands over his own ones which were covering her wound. Her voice was all shaky and just by looking into her dark eyes, Steve could see the tears threatening to spill. The look she gave him broke Steve's heart

"Okay." Steve weakly admitted, ignoring everything else around him as the only thing that mattered to him right now was Emma, keeping her alive and listening to what she had to say. Preferably Steve would have preferred her not to say anything at all, keep quiet to preserve her energy but she was adamant about this and she had asked him not to fight her on this one, so he wouldn't.

"H-Harry, he goes to Danny and Kim… I've made sure of it. T-They will do right by him, Kim will tell him all about George and Danny will do the same about me. The two of them will raise him like he is their own and make sure that he knows who we were and that his parents loved him. I want him to be raise here Steve, Harry likes it here and by staying here he will be close to Grace who is his closest relative in age." Emma quietly uttered, just loud enough for Steve to hear as her eyes continued to well up. It was heartbreaking. "In my home office, inside the safe there is everything that they will need. Life insurance papers, everything. The combination is 32-24-34… "

"Not your birthday, huh?" Steve questioned which caused Emma to laugh, followed shortly by her wincing a lot in pain.

"My measurements. I-I'd thought I'd be different and go for something less obvious, don't tell Danny."

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you so much." Steve joked in an effort to keep Emma's spirits up as the conversation had taken a rather morbid turn which Steve didn't like. He didn't want to talk about any of this as it meant imagining a world without Emma in any of their lives. He understood why was she was doing this, naturally and a part of him couldn't help but admire Emma for always putting Harry first. People tended to react differently to being shot, someone people cried out in pain, some people wailed about not wanting to die. Emma wanted to make sure that her son was taken care of.

"Promise me you'll look out for him." Emma uttered.

"We will both look out for him as your going to be fine Em, you are not going to die. Everything will be okay and once this is over, I promise that I won't let anyone hurt you every again. Everything will be fine, I promise. You'll be okay Em, I will keep you and Harry safe no matter what." Steve began before stopping when he became aware of a sound in the distance background. The sound of sirens. "Can you hear that Emma? Help is on it's way you just have to hold on a little longer babe."

"S-Steven… You promise me right now."

"I promise." Steve gently replied and Emma looked at him for the longest moment, before giving him the saddest smile that Steve had ever seen before in his life. Emma smiled before her eyes shut. Steve felt his heart fall out of his chest and it seemed like the longest five seconds of his life before Emma's eyes fluttered open again and Steve let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. But then Emma's eyes shut again, this time of it's own accord and they didn't open. "Emma look at me! Emma, open your eyes… EMMA!"


End file.
